The New Guardian
by Dragon VS Phoenix
Summary: Naruto is now being trained by the legendary guardian Medivh, what impact will this have on both worlds? Naruto/World of Warcraft Crossover, adopted from Zane34.
1. Chapter 1

Hello people this is DSVP otherwise know as Dragon vs Phoenix (for now) your all probably wondering why i am uploading this, four reasons.

One: Because i have adoped this fic from Zane.

Two: so that you guys can compare his work and my future version.

Three: so that you guys can give me an idea of what you want changed and what you want to stay.

Four: And finaly for your enjoyment.

Since i know that sooner or later Zane will take down his original version, i decided that i would upload this, and i take NO credit for it since it's not my work, also i will NOT continue this one, but instead make a new version so that "you" guys can enjoy both new and old.

Also i have taken out all of the authors notes since i have no rights to upload those, since they are Zane's own personal thoughts.

And Yes i have his authorization to do this, so don't bitch about to me, you are only wasting your time... and mine (Though i will a good laugh out of it).

A though for you guys Before you (re)read this, is that you remember that this is something i will get to from time to time, and currently i have a full bok with stuff i need to do that i don't even know how i am to make the deadline for TTD.

So don't expect a chapter for "The Guardian's Path" (as my version will be called) anytime soon, but do give your thoughts in a Review if you please, would help a lot.

So now enjoy Zane's work.

XXXX

With a quick leap down Naruto landed right at base of a tree.

"Hahaha Ebisu will never be able to match my pace"

Though just as he was about to leap off he felt a pulse. It was not his heartbeat, it felt much more powerful. It was what also drew his attention to what seemed to be a random direction. Drawn by the pulsing he forged onward through the forest towards the direction the pulse was coming from. As he went further the pulse kept getting stronger until he came to the side of what appeared to be a bare mountain. But as soon as he took a few steps closer a cave shimmered into existence.

"Hmmm wonder what could be in here"

Being the inquisitive boy he was Naruto walked into the mouth of the cave and started trekking through the dark cave. The cave, due to Naruto just being in the daylight was darker then midnight under a rock which then caused him to walk square into a wall smacking his face.

"Dammit who put a wall here!"

Though as soon as he looked back at the wall he was stunned by what he saw. Strange carvings were covering the wall in front of him. Reaching out and brushing the wall with his hand he suddenly felt as if the wall was sucking the energy out of his arm. Trying to pull his arm off the wall it may have well been nailed to the wall for all the good it did him. His arm seemed to glow as his chakra was absorbed into the wall. And strangely enough as more and more of his chakra was absorbed it soon took on a darker color until it shifted from blue to purple and from purple to red.

"What the!?" But as he was about to finish the sensation stopped and he quickly removed his hand from the wall.

Checking to make sure there was no permanent damage to his arm he stretched it out and flexed every muscle and joint in his arm. Though he did feel a bit drained there was nothing wrong with his arm so he sighed with relief.

"Wow that was weird, better get out of here before anything else happens."

Just as he turned around to leave he heard a giant "Clunk" as if a gear was moving into place. Slowing turning his head around he was surprised to see the wall that had just absorbed his chakra seem to be splitting down the middle by a crack. When the crack had reached the base of the door it slowly opened up to the boy. Watching as it fully opened he sat there dumbstruck for a second until he thought of what he should do.

'Ok either I leave and just forget about it and never have a chance to see whats inside ever again, or I take a chance and go into the big dark scary room beyond'

Well of course it was a no-brainer to him as he slowly walked into the cavern, keeping his eyes open for any kind of trouble. The room had a small entrance tunnel which then opened up into a huge area with a wall that curved upwards toward the center of the room making it seem as if the room was a giant dome. The walls were smoothed over which gave the room a semi opaque look and the floor had intricate root-like patterns at the center of the room which circled outward until they reached the wall and there they stopped. Admiring the unique design of this weird cave he never noticed a raven that was sitting in front of him until it "cawed" at him. Startled a bit by the sudden noise he relaxed when he saw it was just a bird.

"Oh its just a bird thank Kami."

"Hey wait a minute whats a bird doing in...?" He never got the chance to finish as the Bird started to spasm a bit before bowing his head and started to glow a greenish glow. Naruto had to turn his head a bit to cover his eyes but when he looked back the bird was floating in the fair along with green smoke coming out of its body.

As it rose up its body changed shaped until finally a figure flourished a cape with feathers on it and stabbed his stave into the ground. The man wore a red cape and had shoulder pads on which had what looked to be feathers on them and he wore a hood over his head. The man also carried a wooden staff with a wooden owl carved at the head of hilt.

Shocked for a bit he just stood there gaping until the bird man as Naruto decided to call him spoke up.

"Ah, silly of me to forget to introduce myself, I.." he took a small bow "am Medivh"

Knocked out of his stupor Naruto returned the introduction though a bit confused

"uh... my name is Naruto Uzumaki."

"It is nice to make your acquaintance Naruto Uzumaki."

There was an uncomfortable silence for about a minute until Naruto asked Medivh a question.

"Hey uh Medivh was it? Yea anyway I was kinda wondering uh what are you doing in this cave?"

Medivh smiled at the young boy before answering

"My dear boy I'm afraid if I told you that it would take hours upon hours which I don't think you appreciate."

Although Medivh had avoided the question Naruto let it go since it was the mans business and he didn't have a right to prod into it. Remembering that he should be looking for a teacher since he had lost Ebisu a while ago Naruto decided it would be a good time to leave.

"Well Medivh it was nice to meet you but I should be going now I should be finding someone to teach me for the upcoming chunin exams."

Naruto was about to turn and leave but Medivh's question caught him.

"I would like to know what these chunin exams of yours are if you wouldn't mind."

Naruto looked at Medivh who seemed to be giddy at the chance to learn something new about foreign people. Naruto decided to answer the question with the long speech that the Third Hokage had gave to them at the end of the preliminaries.

"Well according to the old man the chunin exams are a test to determine if you are qualified to become a chunin."

"The Chunin Exams are held twice every year and are open to every and any ninja that is qualified to enter."

Trying to think back to what the old man had said he wracked his brain until he finally remembered the long speech.

"The exam is held in a different village every time and he also said something about showing off our strength to the rest of the villages that come to participate."

" And right now I am trying to find a sensei that will teach me some cool new jutsu so I can beat Neji."

Medivh looked at Naruto a bit confused and asked

"What are jutsu?"

Naruto nearly face faulted but instead decided to pull out the scroll Konohamaru had copied for him about jutsu and read it out loud.

"A jutsu is basically a ninja technique that requires Chakra and spiritual energy. Chakra is energy that is existent in every cell of the body while you accumulate spiritual energy through training and experience. And after these two are mixed together and a seal is formed the jutsu is executed."

Naruto rolled up and put the scroll back into his pocket while Medivh nodded in understanding.

"I see I see and you are trying to learn a new jutsu to beat this Neji in the next round."

Naruto nodded

"Yea I gotta find someone to teach me something cool that way I can beat the crap out of Neji for what he did to Hinata. Before you ask she's a friend of mine, though a little odd, but she's still my friend!"

"Anyway during the 2nd round he kept demeaning her about how it was fated that she was gonna lose and how a failure will never win in the end. In the end she lost but she gave him a hell of a time losing so I want to defeat him for that."

Medivh smiled a bit at that turned on his heel and started walking towards the center of the room.

"Well I'm not sure about any of these jutsu you speak of but there are some things that I could teach you."

Naruto was a bit confused about what he could teach him but then thought back to the bird thing and decided to give the man a chance. He would definitely be better then Ebisu at any rate.

"What can you teach me if I may ask bird man?"

Medivh smirked at the nickname and held out his hand.

" My dear boy I will teach you..." He held out his hand and his hand was covered in flame " Magic."

Naruto was dumbstruck at first by what the bird man was saying but then he regained himself and he smirked. Deciding that manners would be the way to go here he bowed to Medivh.

"I would be honored if you would teach me."

Medivh laughed a little at that

"You do not need to be so formal child."

"Wow first time I was asked not to show respect to my elders so it sounds really weird." Naruto laughed and Medivh soon joined in.

After agreeing with the offer Medivh had stated that Naruto would first have to learn about the schools of magic.

"Oh and Naruto how long do we have before your match?"

"We have a month to train before our matches begin."

" Ok, since we are short on time I will summarize each school of magic instead of teaching you every tad detail I know."

Nodding Naruto began to listen intently to everything Medivh was going to teach him.

" Now we will begin with Abjuration. Abjuration, simply put, focuses magical energies to provide protection against enemies."

Starting to pace back and forth as he spoke Naruto didn't say anything and continued to listen.

" This protection can take a number of forms, including warding off specific types of weapons or creatures and discouraging or dispelling enemies."

" Abjuration spells concentrate on eliminating or hindering sources of potential harm." Medivh turned to see if his pupil had gotten all of that.

Naruto with his hand cupping his chin summed it up in his own words

" Ok so basically Abjuration is mainly for protection and keeping your enemies away off from you."

Nodding his head Medivh continued with his lesson continuing his pacing from before.

" Next we come to the school of Alteration. Spells of this school enable the caster to channel magical energies to cause a direct and specific change in an existing object, creature, or condition. Alterations can affect a subject's form, weight, location, or even his physical well-being."

Confused for a bit for all the strange words bird man was using Naruto had to think about this one for a second before summarizing it.

" Ok so it basically alters the body of your enemy or strengthens yours." Naruto felt pretty proud of himself for being able to sum it all up so beamed brightly at his new sensei.

Smiling a bit due to his students enthusiasm Medivh continued on

" Next we come up to Conjuring and Summoning."

"You mean like summoning animals? Because Kakashi sensei can summon dogs when he needs to ."

" That is indeed an example of summoning. Compelling creatures to come to the caster, as well as allowing the caster to channel forces from other planes."

" Conjuration on the other hand produces various forms of non-living matter such as water or food."

Naruto nodded at that. Wasn't to hard to understand.

" Ok got it so next one."

Medivh was going to continue but then stopped

" Oh and Naruto before I continue any further I would like to ask that you keep this training between you and me."

Naruto was a bit confused for a moment and voiced his concern

" Why can't I tell people that you trained me?"

" As of right now I am trying to keep my presence here a secret. And if you go around and tell people what I am going to teach you then people would flock for miles wishing to learn and that wouldn't keep me secret for long."

Naruto thought about it for a second and had to agree but he still felt that the man was hiding something from him. He did not voice these concerns though, he didn't feel like driving the only good teacher away.

" Ok you got it bird man." Naruto gave him a thumbs up

Medivh smiled at the gesture and the lesson continued.

-20 minutes later

" Ok let me go over the schools one more time."

Naruto shuffled around and thought back to the lesson.

" Ok Abjuration has to do with protection and keeping your enemies away from you, Alteration causes either negative changes in your opponents body or positive changes on yours, Conjuring is for producing things such as food, water, or any kind material while Summoning is like Kakashi's dogs."

Taking a deep breath he continued.

" Enchanting improves items by giving them a bit of magic while Charming is for influencing people or creatures. Greater Divination is for recon and spying, and Illusions are basically genjutsu though through phantasms some illusions can become reality."

Taking another deep breath he finishes explaining the last schools of magic.

"Invocation and Evocation are almost the same except for Evocation you use natural magics while in Invocation you can call on the intervention of gods. Necromancy which isn't too difficult has to do with raising the dead. And lastly there is Elemental magic with many different subclasses that are numerous to mention, but some basic ones are fire, earth, air, and water. Though there are many many other elements in the class."

Naruto finished that up with a beaming smile on his face.

' I am awesome!'

Smirking Naruto looked up at Medivh and then thought about a possibility that Medivh was just toying with him for the hell of it. Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly at the Bird Man. It did seem sort of odd that Medivh would just all of a sudden take an interest in Naruto's training after only meeting him for the first time. He wasn't even sure if all of this really was real. Sighing Naruto then asked something of Medivh.

" Hey Bird Man I'm sorry but I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around this, is there any way that you could show me some proof that some of this actually is real?"

Medivh looked at the boy with what seemed like understanding

"I figured you would have a hard time believing this so I believe a demonstration is in order."

Walking to the center of the room Naruto about 10 feet away Medivh then spoke.

"Ok Naruto is there any projectile weapon on your person at this moment?"

Naruto fished in his pocket for a kunai and pulled it out showing Medivh.

"That will do nicely now I would like you to throw it at me as if I were an enemy."

Naruto was a bit worried that the man had gone crazy but the look in Medivh's eye showed sincerity. Sighing Naruto then reeled back with the kunai in hand

" You sure about this Bird Man, I mean, I could possibly hurt you."

Medivh chuckled at that and waved the boy off

"Now now dear boy I doubt that very much so with your current abilities."

Naruto pissed that the man had insulted his abilities as a ninja threw the kunai with as much as he could muster at Medivh's head.

Medivh just stood there looking calm when at about two feet away the kunai hit an invisible barrier and ricocheted off and landed on the floor a couple of feet away.

Naruto was flabbergasted at this and it showed clearly on his face. To seal the deal Medivh felt one more demonstration was in order.

" Would you like to see another example my boy?"

Naruto closed his mouth and nodded

" Good now I will show you an example of conjuring. Now tell me Naruto what is your favorite food?"

Naruto didn't even have to think about and instantly yelled

"Ramen of course!"

" Tell me what this ramen is composed of. And keep it simple if you would"

" There is Miso ramen that has Miso soup in it, noodles, and some Pork."

" Naruto would you look up please."

Naruto confused by this was almost hit by a bowl as he looked up only barely catching it in his hands. He looked in the discovered that there was the ramen he had described. Shock clearly written on his face he took a taste test and it was gooood! He slurped up the whole bowl and sighed with contentment.

"Ok I believe you Bird Man."

"Good, now I believe we will start off with Abjuration."

Nodding although he wanted to learn something with a little more firepower he did not contradict the man since he wanted to learn how he made the ramen.

" Now we will be learning the basic barrier for now and later when you have learned more you can add in elemental energy getting various different effects."

Now that sounded interesting, especially if he could make the barrier flaming.

" The energy that are used for spells can differ among the schools but for abjuration this school taps into the use of mana. Mana in essence is the spiritual energy in your body."

A little confused as to how he would use mana after having used chakra so long was gonna voice his thoughts when Medivh answered his question before he asked.

"Now normally the spells require mana but with protection being physical and magical issue, using your chakra might be a better choice for you."

Naruto was glad at not having to learn any more complicated processes about drawing his energy apart.

"Now I want you to gather your chakra and picture it inside of your body as you would see it."

Naruto closed his eyes and did as Medivh said picturing what believed looked like to be his chakra. Medivhs voice seemed to be inside his head.

" Coerce the energy into a barrier around you."

Naruto attempted to do as he said thinking it would be easy but the reality of it smacked him in the face. Trying to keep the chakra condensed in a barrier that surrounded him was one of the toughest things he had done so far. The Chakra almost immediately collapsed as he tried to project the barrier outside of his body. It seemed as if something were messing with his chakra control. Though it did not ruin his ability to control chakra completely it still was not easy.

"Do not get discouraged from failure boy. As they say you learn more from failure then you do success."

Taking his words to heart Naruto continued his training.

-5 hours later

Naruto was breathing hard as his barrier took a blast from a fireball Medivh threw at him.

When Naruto had finally managed to sustain his shield without it failing Medivh had upped the difficult of the training by having the shield withstand elemental attacks. The first few times Medivh cast spells against the boy they had gone through and hit Naruto. Naruto knew Medivh would not permanently damage him but that didn't mean the spells didn't hurt like hell.

After getting hit with elemental attacks over and over Naruto managed to concentrate his chakra enough to actually stop one of medivh's fireballs. Naruto let out a cheer at that but as soon as he did Medivh launched another attack this one stronger then before and he only barely managed to put his barrier up in time. Although the shield was in place it did not manage to stop the attack for long only softening the impact. The blast lifting him off his feet smacked him against the floor. This was how his training went, Naruto would withstand an attack then Medivh would up the power, it would make Naruto up his skill quickly and he would have plenty of motivation to continue. Looking up Medivh was preparing another fireball so Naruto quickly threw up another barrier this time attempting to condese his chakra that way he could fit more chakra into his barrier and therefore withstand more damage.

Sensing the power in Naruto's shield had increased by a large margin Medivh decided to test Naruto with his normal fireball, which in Medivh's case was extremely powerful. Casting the spell Naruto braced for impact and he was not disappointed. The spell had enough force to send Naruto flying backwards and into the wall, but miraculously his barrier was still intact. A bit shaken but unharmed Naruto made his way onto his hands and knees.

Naruto was on his hands and knees when he heard clapping. Naruto looked up to see Medivh approaching him clapping.

" Excellent progress my dear boy you have done very well with this spell. Normally if that barrier wasn't up you would have been incinerated on contact."

Despite the fact that Medivh sounded a bit too enthusiastic at the prospect of nearly killing him Naruto was cheering out loud for his accomplishment. Medivh then came up behind the boy and put a hand on his shoulder.

" Now my dear boy I believe you should probably be heading home now because tomorrow we will continue our training. And if you do well enough I may teach you some elemental magic."

This excited the blond at the prospect of something destructive so Naruto ran out of the cave yelling

"See you tomorrow Bird Man!"

As Naruto's silhouette ran out of sight Medivh then came to a conclusion.

"He definitely is the one." taking a step back Medivh disappeared with a flourish of his cape

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop Naruto ran across the village until he got to his dingy old apartment. Climbing through the window Naruto made his way into his kitchen and got a pan of water boiling. His apartment was not too bad thanks to his shadow clones helping clean up. His kitchen was surprisingly clean while the living room had a couch and an armchair in it along with a little table in front of the couch for him to kick his feet onto it when he felt like relaxing. His Bedroom held a queen sized bed along with a nightstand which had his picture of team 7 on it along with a dresser at the side of the room which held all of his clothes in it. A door in his room lead to the bathroom and shower.

Tired from the day's training Naruto quickly finished making his ramen that way he could rest for tomorrows training. Seeing the pot steaming Naruto walked over and poured the water into his ramen and waited the one minute for his ramen to be ready. Sitting there for minute Naruto started to think about the future.

'I wonder if after the Chunin exams Medivh will continue to train me. Though they will be over so it may be he will have to leave so I shouldn't get my hopes up. So only thing to do until then is to make the most of his training'

Feeling a new determination to learn everything Medivh had to teach him Naruto quickly ate his ramen and went to bed attempting to fall asleep. After a few minutes of restlessness the day's activities had settled in and he fell into a deep sleep.

Getting up the next morning at about 8:45 Naruto quickly made some instant ramen and was out the window and off to the cave. Trying to remember the way he ran off to the last place he was before he sensed that pulse. Speaking of which Naruto made a mental note to himself to ask Medivh later about that.

Arriving at the base of the tree he landed at earlier and backtracked to where the cave was supposed to be. Digging through his memory it took him a while but then he finally came into the familiar mountainside with the cave on it. Of course it was not visible to him until he got within the mouth of the cave. Walking through the cave until he reached the wall again he put his hand against the wall and waited for it to drain his chakra. But it didn't and as soon as he put his hand on the wall it immediately started to slide open.

Walking inside Naruto saw Medivh standing there waiting for him.

"Ah you are back early this time. Well lets not waste time with words let us start to try and get you able to create your barrier while on the move. I want you to slowly walk around the room and create your barrier from yesterday and I want you to keep training until you can sustain it as you walk. Then once you are able to do that you will move up to jogging then running and so forth."

Naruto nodding began his training. The principle was basically the same except now he had to create it while on the move and sustain its strength and shape. Needless to say it wasn't as easy as it looked with the shield constantly wobbling to different shapes for different periods of time. After a couple of hours of drilling Naruto was finally able to create his shield while on the move and it didn't hinder his movement.

"Ok my boy that is the basic barrier spell and it will strengthen as you use it more and if you condense more chakra into it."

"Now we will move onto an elemental attack which will come in handy."

Naruto finally getting something he could use out of the bird man listened with rapt attention.

"Now I will be teaching you a spell that involves gathering the electrical energy inside of your body and releasing it into a concentrated burst of lightning."

Naruto was practically hopping up and down with the prospect of mastering this attack.

"Now I will need to show a test for this spell so watch closely."

Medivh waved his hand upward and out of the center of the room a wooden test dummy matieralized. Taking a few steps back Medivh held out his palm and took on a mask of concentration. After a few seconds his hand started to cackle with electricity that sent tingles all over Naruto's body. It was a nearly instantaneous attack but the results were devastating. The dummy that Medivh had conjured was now no more then a pile of ash and the wall behind it was cratered in about two feet.

"Ok my boy now for the first part of learning this we will be gathering your chakra and turning it into electrical energy. It may sound simple but do not underestimate its difficulty."

Nodding Naruto held out his hard palm up and closed his eyes concentrating on his chakra. Attempting to manifest electricity out of his body much less concentrate it onto one area was far more difficult then the barrier spell. After a few tries he had finally managed to get a spark to come out of his hand. Disappointed by the lack of result he did not give up and continued onward. As the day went on Naruto made slow progress with the spell. Again Naruto had a strange feeling that something was hindering his ability to form chakra as well as he could. Medivh could sense the boy's growing frustration and spoke up.

"Unlike the barrier spell in which you are projecting your chakra outside of your body this spell requires that you separate the spiritual and physical energy within your body."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?!"

"My boy I will not always be there to teach you so you may be own your own sometimes. I wanted you to learn and figure it out yourself."

Nodding at his reasoning but still a bit pissed Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated on his chakra.

'Ok physical and spiritual lets see if I can tell the difference'

Feeling down deep inside he finally reached what he thought was his pool of chakra it felt as it usually did but that wasn't what he needed to feel. Trying to separate his chakra caused it to just move around a bit as if the water in a pool was just rippling about. Getting a bit frustrated only made it a bit worse.

'Dam this is hard and its just pissing me off.'

With thought back to what Medivh had said he noticed that the more he let vented his emotions the harder it got for him to control his chakra. So calming himself Naruto imagined a calm serene environment for which he could calm himself. After calming down Naruto found his inner peace and attempted it again. This time getting much better results. Chakra inside of his body soon started to churn in a counter clock wise motion. Building on this Naruto kept his emotions in check and kept the circle going. As it kept churning and churning Naruto could feel his chakra pull further in half. The pool of energies immediately reminded him of the Ying Yang symbol. The different energies got farther and farther apart until he guessed that they were far enough and he released his grasp on his inner energies. The two forces immediately collided and Naruto felt like he was being shocked in an electric chair. Naruto quickly lost consciousness as the electricity he created coursed throughout his body.

Medivh watched as the boy attempted to separate his energies and was quite impressed. From what the young child had deduced his emotions were a key part in his ability to cast spells and so he had calmed his emotions and found his inner peace. The child was quite remarkable in the act of creating enough electricity to knock himself unconscious. What the boy lacked in control made up for in his amount of chakra. Medivh figured that as soon as Naruto could control his chakra he would be a dangerous opponent for anyone indeed. Walking over to the boy he noticed that the charge of electricity had decimated his clothes leaving holes everywhere. As Medivh was about to move the boy he noticed what appeared to be a seal on the boy's stomach.

"Hello what have we here?"

Lifting up the boy's shirt he sees what appears to be a rune on the boy's stomach. By the look of it this was a rune meant for sealing a creature of some power. The seal was an eight trigram seal with a line that coiled in a repeating circle towards the center of Naruto's navel. Surrounding the Eight Trigram was a 5 trigram seal. Knowing a lot about runes himself Medivh figured that someone more then likely an enemy had placed that there to mess with Naruto's control over his chakra. Marveling at the fact that Naruto had managed to get the barrier spell down at all Medivh prepared to remove the seal that hindered his control. Opening his hand and holding it over the five prong seal Medivh concentrated on the seal in front of him. Gathering energy into his finger tips magical runes floated just below his finger tips. When finished Medivh took a deep breath and plunged his hand into Naruto's stomach. Almost immediately the Five prong seal dispersed and Naruto was awoken out of his unconsciousness.

Gasping for breath Naruto noticed Medivh over him staring down at him. Still a bit groggy from his spell he couldn't quite remember him at first.

"Bird Man? Is that you" Smiling a bit Medivh answered

"Yes Naruto, how are you feeling?"

"I feel like Kakashi sensei hit me with his chidori."

Nodding at the explanation Medivh soon answered Naruto's soon to be questions.

"Well child it appears you have a good grasp of what you must do now. Your only problem was you did not provide the energy a specific direction to go. By letting the energy collide without providing a route out of your body the collision of energy was more like a bomb going off inside of you rather then controlled energy."

"Ok... so I'll need to learn how to control the lightning and release it of my body?"

"Not quite... it is more like guiding the energy rather then controlling it. For you see if you try to control the energy and you allow it to go through your heart the shock could stop your heart and kill you."

Naruto unconsciously gulped at that and remembered never to let electricity pass through his heart.

"So now that you know the basic principles of it I believe it is time to increase your control over your chakra."

Naruto groaned inwardly at this but remembered to what Kakashi had made them do.

"Are we going to be climbing trees again?"

"Climbing trees?"

"Yea to increase our control Kakashi-sensei made us climb trees without using our hands. By keeping a constant flow of chakra through our feet into the tree it allowed us to walk on water.

With this new information Naruto had given him Medivh had gotten an idea.

"Boy I have an idea for what you could do for an exercise. You'll be using the same principles as your tree climbing but I want you to do it on water."

That did sound like a good exercise to Naruto since he had seen, more the once, ninja walk on water.

"Ok Bird Man, and when I do ill finish learning that lightning technique."

Patting the boy on the head he ushered him out of the cave.

"Good boy now run along now be sure to find a body of water big enough for you to use."

Running out of the cave Naruto turned and said one last goodbye to Medivh.

"See you tomorrow Bird Man."

Watching him go Medivh's face grew serious as he thought to the future.

'He will have a greater impact then he realizes for both worlds.'

Yes i know that there are both bad grammar and a right amount of misspellings, in all chapters.

But even so enjoy :)


	2. Chapter 2

A hop, skip, and jump later Naruto had found his way to the hot spring. Paying to get in Naruto made his way into the open air bath. Walking to an area next to the bridge he looked down into the water as if staring it down.

'ok... shouldn't be too hard."

Gathering his chakra into his feet Naruto kept a constant flow as he attempted to walk on the water only for him to fall after the first step. And being in a hot spring the water was really, really hot.

"Yow!"Quickly jumping out Naruto's clothes were soaked to the brim and the water was scalding hot.

"Ok that was not an enjoyable bath, gotta press on though or else I won't be able to learn Bird Man's techniques."

Pressing on Naruto continued to experiment in ways to stay on top of the water until he finally managed to keep one foot on the water without sinking. Moving from there he attempted to take another step only for him to fall in again due to not adjusting the chakra correctly.

"Kuso! This is getting really annoying."

Quickly remembering back to his listen with Medivh Naruto calmed his emotions and centered himself. Putting his foot back out onto the water his foot help firm, attempting another step again Naruto managed to put enough chakra to stay afloat but as soon as he was fully on the water his chakra fluctuated and he fell in. And this went on for about an hour with Naruto attempting to take baby steps and him falling in. Pulling himself up Naruto was about to attempt it again when he heard arguing a ways off.

"I will not allow any shameless acts in my presence!"

Almost two seconds later there was a "poof" a "slam" then it was quiet. Deciding to check it out Naruto got up and made his way over to the ruckus. Coming onto the scene Naruto saw Ebisu face down on the ground presumably knocked out and an old guy on a toad with long white hair and hermit clothing on with a big scroll on his back.

'Ok either this guy must be pretty strong to beat Ebisu or Ebisu just sucks...I'll go with the second and say he just sucks... though he probably could help me with my chakra control.'

So walking up to the hermit Naruto gained his attention in a way most suitable of him.

"HEY PERVERT ON THE FROG!"

The so called pervert face vaulted at that and returned the yell

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING A PERVERT YOU BRAT!"

"THE ONE WHO IS PEEPING INTO WOMENS BATHS THATS WHO!"

Hearing this the women in the hot spring quickly covered themselves and ran out of the hot spring screaming about a pervert.

"AAAAHHH brat why did you have to go and do that you just ruined my research!"

"Research?"

Reaching into his shirt pocket the he pulled out a book that Naruto seemed familiar to Naruto. With an orange cover and the title "Icha Icha Paradise" he finally recalled where he had seen it.

"Hey thats the book Kakashi-sensei used to always read."

"Ah so you've met a fan of the novel. My book must be quite popular."

"You mean your the one who writes that?"

Going into his long introduction Jiraiya flips his hair back over his head.

"I am Myouboku Mountain's Monk of the frog spirits. Also known as the Toad sage. Other wise known as Jiraiya of the Sannin!" at the end he finshes by posing on top of the toads head.

A sweatdrop forming on Naruto's head he then begins to pester the so called "sage" to train him.

"Ok so your the toad sage now will you help me train or not?"

Giving Naruto a critical eye he then gives him his response.

"And what would I get in return for this?"

Inwardly sighing Naruto thought about it for a minute until he came up with an idea. Cackling at its brilliance he puts it into action. Putting his hands into one of his favorite handsigns he calls out

"Sexy Jutsu!"

In a puff of smoke appears one of Naruto's orignal jutsu for dealing with perverts. Naruko as he liked to nickame himself stood there naked with little puffs of cloud covering the important areas while showing them off at the same time. And with his hair tied back into two pony tails it would be pretty hard for any pervert not to have a reaction at this. Getting the reaction Naruto expected he just bared with the sannin's creepy stare.

Eyes popping out of his head Jiraiya admired every aspect of this girl in front of him from the cleavage to the nice shapely legs.

"ALL RIGHT YOU HAVE GOT A DEAL!" bringing out two "winner" signs

Naruto sweat-dropped at this, again, but he didn't really care as long as the pervert agreed to train him.

"Although there is one condition to this agreement..."

Mimicking his voice that had made many men before him swoon he asked.

"Why Jiraiya-sama whatever could that condition be?"

Turning around, pushing his fingers together, and giggling like a schoolgirl Jiraiya answered.

"You have to stay like that when you are around me." Puffing out of his form in anger Naruto glared at the old man

"I knew it! You are a pervert!"

"I am not just any old pervert!... I'm a SUPER PERVERT!"

Sighing at his future teacher Naruto gave Jiraiya a blank look and just asked his question again.

"So are you gonna train me or not." Sighing in defeat the sannin finally relented his side of the argument

"Find kid I'll oversee your training and help you as I am able."grinning from ear to ear Naruto cheered out loud and he went to continue his training when the pervert called out

"But we are gonna move to a better location for your training."nodding his head Naruto followed the sage out of the hot springs and towards the woods. They walked through the woods until they came upon a river with the ground next to it made it bedrock.

"Ok brat get back to your water walking and I will point out what I can." Taking a seat down further away from the river.

Going at his training Naruto continued to fall in the river as the day went on but each time he would be able to last longer as he stood out there longer. Jiraiya would occasionaly point out some flaws and Naruto would correct them. Pulling himself up onto the creek riverside Naruto began to speak to himself.

"Well at least I can control my chakra well enough anyway no thanks to that snake guy."

Curiosity peaked Naruto beckoned the boy to continue.

"Snake guy?"

"Yea his skin was pale white and his eyes were yellow and he had long black hair."

'Orochimaru' walking over to Naruto he stood over him and looked down at him.

"Hey kid I want you to channel your chakra again but this time hold it and dont step onto the water." Confused by the request but not looking to disobey he began to channel his chakra.

Naruto having stripped out of his clothes during the training was bare except for his underwear. Watching around where the area where the seal was kept he then saw it appear. Though there appeared to be nothing wrong with it... so what could Naruto have meant?

"Hey kid you sure that the snake guy did something to you?"

"I'm positive the last thing I remember was him shoving fist into my stomach with each of his fingertips glowing blue."

'Five pronged seal eh...' Naruto shifted a little as his seal was being examined

"Something wrong are you saying it's not there anymore?"

"You didn't know it wasn't there?"

Getting into a thinking pose Naruto thought to what could have happened to his seal when a certain man came into mind. Whispering so Jiraiya couldn't hear or so he thought he spoke aloud.

"hmmm maybe Medivh got rid of it." Jiraiya listening to Naruto's ramblings took quite an interest in this Medivh Naruto was talking about but decided not to question the boy on it... yet. If this man was able to remove a five prong seal and leave no chakra to trace it by he would definitely be an exceptional seal master.

"Ok well whatever boy keep up your training until you can't walk on water without falling and maybe I'll teach you a cool jutsu."

Motivated at the prospect of learning something new Naruto doubled his effort in attempting to waterwalk. After another couple of hours of trial and error Naruto had surprised Jiraiya by not only able to walk on water but also to push chakra out of different parts of his body and still be on the water. The way Naruto saw it the more he learned about controlling his chakra the faster he could get to learning new techniques.

"Ok kid since you got the technique down how about we call it a day and come back tomorrow."

"But what about that new jutsu that you were going to teach me?"

"We'll start it tomorrow as soon as you get here so be here at noon tomorrow."the toad sage then took off running towards the hotspring to continue his research after a day of training...Well teaching but it really didn't matter to him, it was a hassle just to get the boy to shutup about a new jutsu and he felt he deserved it after putting up with it.

"'Sigh' stupid pervy-sage it isn't even 6 yet, oh well might as well go see bird-man and see if he'll give me any pointers on that lightning."

Jumping off into the forest Naruto took the long way to enjoy the scenery. Naruto knew the village was his home but it was out here in the forest that he was at peace. Surrounded by trees and wildlife Naruto felt as if he were becoming close with nature. Along the way naruto passed a fox that was chasing a rabbit around the brush and had to laugh at the scene. The fox had a hard time attempting to catch the rabbit but eventually the rabbit managed to outwit the fox and dash leaving the fox there still looking around. Passing through Naruto eventually got to the cave and entered the door and once again he saw Medivh standing there as if he knew he was coming.

"Well Naruto it is nice to see you again did anything interesting happen today?" Naruto walked forward and stood a couple of feet from Medivh.

"Well I managed to get someone to teach me a bit about chakra control but he's a perverted sage so he won't top you." Medivh smiled at his apprentice and rubbed Naruto's head in affection.

"So Naruto what are you here for today, shouldn't you be training with your sensei?" Naruto shrugged at the question

"Well he says he wont teach me anything new until tomorrow now that I mastered the water walking exercise."

"You are able to do it already are you now?" Naruto beamed at him with one of his famous grins

"Yea and now he says he'll teach me a new jutsu tomorrow at noon. So until then I was wondering if we could work on controlling the lightning a bit more." Medivh nodded

"Sure boy now lets get started I want you to gather your energy like you did last time but instead of releasing it like an explosion," Medivh began to drag his front a middle finger along a path on his arm

"I want you to guide it along the pathways in your arms and out of your body. And remember not to let it pass through your heart, your lucky that it didn't kill you last time." Naruto nervously chuckled at that and began his training.

This time Naruto used the least amount of energy so he wouldn't kill himself if his attack went wrong. Separating his bodily energies like he did before when he released it this time he attempted to guide it out of his body. It seemed to work for a second as he could feel it running up his arm but as soon as it got to his shoulder he felt his shoulder seize up.

"You must make sure you don't allow the energy to enter your muscles either or it will cause them to seize up." Naruto slowly started to get the feeling back in his arm so he rubbed his shoulder until he could feel his arm again.

"Ok Bird-man gotta keep it out of my muscles understood."

For the next 4 hours Naruto kept at his exercise until he finally got a concrete result when he managed to get a tiny excuse for a bolt to come out of his arm. At this Naruto figured that since he could now actually guide the energies out of his body all he had to work on was getting larger amounts to be more effective and devastating.

"Ok Bird-man since it's getting late I am going to go home and hit the hay, I'll be by early so that we can continue this." Naruto then started running out of the cave and off home.

"Ok my boy see you later." Medivh continued to wave softly as Naruto left.

After a quick dinner of Ramen Naruto hit the hay eager for the new Jutsu the pervy sage was going to teach him. Dreams of destructive jutsu raced through his head as he slept.

Meanwhile outside his window on the next apartment over Jiraiya silently watched as Naruto slept deep in thought about the day when Ebisu walked up to him.

"So it seems you finally came back to the village Master Jiraiya, when are you gonna tell the Sandaime that you have returned?" Jiraiya shrugged at the question seeing no necessity to tell his old sensei he was back yet.

"There is no rush for him to know yet and I will be busy training the boy to summon." Ebisu looked shocked for a bit before his composure returned.

"Master Jiraiya you mean your not here to find Orochimaru?" Jiraiya shook his head

"No I don't plan on getting involved with the likes of him again." Ebisu was now rambling about how only a Sannin could beat a Sannin. Jiraiya ignored it all in favor of enjoying the night. The moon was out and full shining enough light to where he could see the village clearly even though it was the middle of the night. And a light breeze blew which rustled his hair a bit. It was times like these that reminded Jiraiya that no matter under what circumstances you leave it, home does not cease to be home. No matter how you lived there.

Eventually Ebisu gave up trying to convince Jiraiya and walked home in thought. Jiraiya sighed at the man but could not really hold it against him. After all, he was trying to do was protect his home.

Naruto woke up early again this time to go see Medivh before he goes to train with Jiraiya. Getting dressed in his usual jumpsuit Naruto made a quick meal of instant Ramen and was on his way to Medivh's cave for more training on his technique. Taking the usual route Naruto soon arrived at the cave and walked in to see Medivh in a lotus position. Seeing the perfect opportunity for a prank Naruto quietly slinked into the cave and tiptoed his way behind Medivh and took a deep breath, only for Medivh to open his eyes and start talking.

"Why hello boy and what may I ask are you doing?" Naruto embarrassed that he had been caught just whistled innocently

"Well before I go to Pervy-Sage for training I wanted to ask if there were any ways that I could make my lightning more powerful." Stroking his beard a bit Medivh got out of his meditative position

"Well one way I can see to do it is to increase control over your chakra. The more control you have over your chakra the better in tune with it you will be, and there it will be easier to separate your energies thereby making your spell cast faster and more powerful." Hearing all of that in one sentence caused Naruto's head to hurt but he did get it in the end.

"So better control equals a more powerful lightning bolt?" Medivh nodded

"Well you have any ideas for an exercise?" Sighing Medivh looked Naruto in the eyes.

"My boy I think it is time that you go out and learn on your own." Naruto looked a bit saddened at that.

"If I keep just spoon feeding you it will not help you much at all so you must learn to locate and learn for yourself." Naruto grudgingly accepted and jogged out of the cave

"hehe well boy lets see what you come up with child."

Meanwhile with Naruto...

"Ok ok ok hey maybe Kakashi-sen..oh wait he's training the teme hmmm... I guess I have no choice but to go the (gulp) Library."

Jumping from building to building Naruto had reached the Library which was situated a couple of blocks away from Ichiraku's Ramen. Entering the library Naruto was greeted with a smile from the Librarian.

"Hello is there anything I can help you look for while you are here?" Naruto scratched the back of his head

"Uhhh yea I'm looking for a book on chakra control do you know where I can find one?"

"Oh yes, they would be over on that shelf over there, shelf 2 section C." Nodding kindly to the women Naruto walked around the library till he found what he was looking for.

"Ok let's see..." Naruto began to look through the books one at a time.

"Chakra Control Basics... You and Your chakra... Chakra Control for Dummies... Your way with your chakra... I'll go for the first one." Taking the book out of the shelf he notices a book behind it out of sight from anyone.

"Hmmm hello what have we here?" Opening it the scroll says 'Leopard Style' deciding that he may like the taijutsu style he took it with him.

As he checked out the books the librarian waved goodbye to him in which he kindly returned it.

Deciding to go to his teams training ground he arrives in a few minutes. Sitting down the scroll for Chakra control he opens it up to see what the first tip would be.

'Practicing your taijutsu while using water walking is one way to hit two birds with one stone.'

Getting the point Naruto then opens up the other scroll to start learning this so called Leopard Style. Opening the scroll he could tell it was a very unique style. The Leopard style according to the scroll amounted to the words "Why block when you can hit?" which suited Naruto almost perfectly in his rush in and pummel the opponent attitude.

Looking over the first set of instructions he read that you had to be extremely conditioned to use this style. A few ideas from the scroll and the water walking would definitely give him a work out. Walking out to the center of the lake near the training ground he then slowly gets in a push up position. According to the scroll the Leopard Style the style's main fist attack was the Bao Chui or Leopard Fist. And to condition his knuckles enough for the style he would have to strengthen his hands for the tough task.

For the next few hours Naruto would continue his workout of push-ups on the water along with periodically punching a tree to make sure he wouldn't break his fingers using this style. When it was about 15 minutes before noon he stopped his workout. After doing his workout for nearly 4 hours Naruto felt like he could fall asleep right then and there.

'And to think Bushy-Brow does this every day.'

Looking at his knuckles he noticed that there were several bruises and callouses along the ridges from the continuous workout and flow of chakra.

'Well I better get to Pervy Sage before he decides to forget about my training'

Making his way towards where they were yesterday he spots him peeking through a bush at women in a pond a little ways off. Getting a bit peeved that he was just peeping again he slowly crept up to a few yards behind the sage and made sure his aim was right. Taking slow dramatic steps until he was right behind the pervert he reared his foot back and kicked Jiraiya straight out of the bush and into the lake currently occupied.

Jiraiya currently being preoccupied by the ladies never knew Naruto was there until he was sent flying through the air and landing into the pond. As soon as he pulled his head above the water he regretted it because as soon as the women saw him they ran off screaming, leaving him without a source of inspiration. Naruto meanwhile was laughing his ass off at his awesome kick.

"BRAT why did you have to do that!" Naruto glared at Jiraiya and crossed his arms

"Your supposed to be training me not looking at women!" Jiraiya had anime tears falling

"What am I supposed to do now brat..." Naruto shrugged

"Sooner you get done training me faster you can go back to your research." Motivated at the chance to do some more peeping Jiraiya was about to commence the brat's summoning training when Naruto's knuckles caught his eyes.

"Hey kid what did you do to your hands?" Naruto raised his left hand up and showed it to the sage.

"I was kind of going overboard with training earlier." Naruto scratched his head laughing a bit nervously.

Although Jiraiya was concerned with the kids hands he really didn't see any need to push it since the kid seemed fine with it.

"Ok kid lets get to that summoning contract."

-7 Hours Later

"Dam I am not summoning Gamabunta for another long while" Naruto walked out of the hospital rubbing his sore hands from which he was hanging onto Gamabunta with.

After managing to pass the toad boss's test he was finally allowed to summon Gamabunta and all the toads beneath him. And also the talk with a certain fox in his head proved to be a very interesting one at that.

Flashback-

Naruto was falling into the crevice that Jiraiya had pushed him into when he had suddenly appeared in what looked like a sewer. Wondering where he was Naruto got up off his butt and onto his feet when all of a sudden the hairs on the back of his neck stood stock straight when he heard what sounded like a growl. Walking down the hall he feels a certain malevolence in the air similar to the red chakra he used before. Taking a left down a seemingly random hallway he hears the growling get louder and louder until he finally enters an open room. In the center of this room is a gate towering over Naruto, it easily being over 3 stories tall.

"What the.." but before he could finish a presence made itself known inside the gate as a giant row of teeth and a pair of blood red eyes stared down at him.

'Kami this thing is huge.' Not that he would say it out loud, Naruto would admit to himself that he was afraid of the being behind the cage. He was rattled out of his inner thoughts when the creature spoke.

"Come closer little one..."

Warily, Naruto walked forward until he was a few feet from the cage when out of the darkness a giant claw crashes against the cage nearly impaling the jailor. Needless to say this caused Naruto to stumble back in fear.

"I will take great pleasure in killing you and devouring your soul, but this accursed seal stands in my way of my freedom. So why have you come mortal? It would be nice if you would would let me feast on your marrow."

Steeling his resolve Naruto glared at his prisoner before going on his rant.

"Ok you stupid fox I need your chakra or we are going to die so pay up now!"

Grinning maniacally the kitsune let out a chuckle that sent dread down Naruto's body.

"Well I suppose I can't kill you, after all if you die then I die... Your courage is most impressive boy for that I will loan you my chakra."

Even before the Kyuubi no Youko had finished talking the water on the ground had started to ripple before the cage and soon after the chakra poored out and surrounded Naruto. Wrapping itself around Naruto as if it were a strait jacket he felt suffocated but empowered at the same time.

"Oh, and kid before you go, be watchful of your sensei. There is more to him then meets the eye."

End Flashback-

Walking at a slow pace towards the cave Naruto thought back to the fox's words.

'What could cause a demon to be interested in a human?'

The fox seemed to know something about Bird Man and he was keeping it to himself just to toy with his container.

'I'll ask Medivh later about that and I'll probably tell him about the fox too.'

Naruto didn't really feel at all nervous at the prospect of telling Medivh about the fox. For some reason he could feel a bit of bond with his Sensei. That he could tell him about the fox and he wouldn't care either way. Like they were two peas in the same pod.

'Yep I've made up my mind I'm gonna tell him.'

Slowly trudging along the usual path Naruto made it to the cave and entered the way he usually did. After putting his hand on the door Naruto walked in to see Medivh in his meditative position like last time. Deciding to get his major obstacle out of the way he was going to speak up but Medivh beat him to it.

"Why hello there my dear boy, are you going to work on controlling the release of energies tonight?" Medivh turned his head and looked at Naruto never getting out of his position.

"Well... actually there is something I've got to tell you." Medivh adjusted his body to where he was facing Naruto and beckoned the boy to continue.

"Well I'm not exactly sure how to say this so I am just gonna come out and say it." Taking a deep breath Naruto calmed himself before he began

"I have the Kyubi no Yoko sealed inside of me."

Nothing moved after he said that. Medivh just stared at the boy and Naruto stared back. It was as if they were staring into each others souls.

"Whats the Kyubi no Yoko?" Naruto face vaulted at that

'Well he knows how to break the mood.'

"Well the Kyubi is a giant fox demon that attacked our village 12 years ago before our leader the Fourth Hokage sealed him inside of me."

Medivh had the look of a kid who had just received a treat.

"I see I see so here you have animal demons, most interesting. I was wondering what kind of demon it was but this is definitely something I have not encountered before." Naruto was stunned at what Medivh said

"Wait, so you mean you knew I had the kyubi sealed in me?!" Medivh shook his head

"No boy I did not, however I could feel the demon's chakra ever so slightly emanating from you. It must be a creature of some power for me to be able to feel its presence even behind the seal." Naruto had an inkling but wanted to make sure with medivh first

"Were you the one who removed that thing the snake did to my stomach?" medivh looked appraisingly at his pupil

"Why my boy finally your mind is starting to tick, well anyway yes I was the one who removed it from your stomach. And it looked like it helped wonders with your control" Aside from being a bit pissed at his insult of intelligence Naruto did remember his control had sky rocketed after that now that nothing was screwing up his chakra.

"Hey Medivh I have one more question, how are you able to sense the demonic chakra emanating from me while others have to wait until I use it to feel it?" looking off to a corner to a corner of the room as if he was looking into the past Medivh answered

"My boy I am sorry but that is going to be a story for another time when I feel you are ready." Naruto didn't mind the secrecy after all he had been keeping the fox a secret from his friends since the first second he found out.

"Now my dear boy I have a question to ask you, what did you do to your knuckles?" Naruto brought his knuckles to his face like he had earlier with Jiraiya

"Well I found a taijutsu scroll in the library while I was looking for chakra controls and I don't know how to explain it but it felt... right." Naruto thought of any other way to explain it but couldn't

"I'm not sure of any other way to say it."

"Success is often the result of taking a misstep in the right direction my dear boy."(1.)

Naruto put his hand back down and grinned at Medivh.

"Ok Bird-man lets get to my training!" Medivh smiled at the energy the boy was full of and commenced the training.


	3. Chapter 3

The last two weeks had done to wonders to the boy and his skills. Between the training with Medivh and his own private taijutsu training Naruto's skill had skyrocketed. Also his summons would come in handy later if he was caught in a pickle. It was the night before the finals and he was just finishing his training with Medivh.

"Ok bird-man, tonight is the last night before the exam so I am going to go get some sleep." Medivh nodded at the boy

"Ok my boy I wish you the best of luck with your examination tomorrow."

Naruto remembering all that Medivh had done for him straightened himself one last time.

"I thank you sensei for training me." Medivh let out a hearty chuckle

"Boy I've told you before that you have no reason to be so formal with me." Naruto relaxed his stance a bit

"I know, just doing it one last time hehe." Medivh let a heartfelt smile show as he rubbed Naruto's hair affectionately.

"Do well my boy and show them what you can do." Naruto nodded his head enthusiastically as he ran out of the cave. By himself again Medivh let out a sigh.

"I hope he is be ready for the hardships ahead."

Meanwhile Naruto was rolling around his bed trying to sleep but it was useless for thoughts of tomorrows match kept making there way through his head. Images of him defeating Neji flashed through his head so much that he finally sat up and decided to go for a walk. Throwing on his usual clothes he walked through his apartment and out the door.

Walking seemingly without a purpose through the village Naruto ended up walking to the base of the Hokage mountain. Looking up there Naruto could see the faces of the previous hokages staring out into the distance. The First Hokage, then the Second, followed by the Old man, and finally finishing with the fourth hokage.

Now Naruto did no have any feelings ill or good for this hokage. He recognized that this man had sacrificed his life to save his home and the people he loved, and he respected him for that, but why would he seal it in him of all people? This question had bugged him for most of his life and no one would give him a straight answer. Even when he asked the Old Man he would avoid the question as if he were hiding something from him.

Of course Naruto being gifted at reading people knew Sarutobi was nervous every time he would ask that question. Though Naruto never pushed it past that he still wished his jiji would be a bit more honest with him.

Done with his thoughts Naruto walked to the side of the mountain and started to make his way up to the top. Following the path that was created to help with carving the faces it took him about 15 minutes to walk all the way up there. Going over to the Fourth's head Naruto crossed his legs and sat down.

Staring out at the village had always been one of Naruto's favorite past times, especially when the sun was about to set or when it was midnight with a full moon shining over the village. This had always managed to relax him and give him a sense of purpose at the same time.

Here he had people to protect.

Here he had his possible future.

Here he had a home...

'It's my duty to protect these people... my precious people.'

Thinking of the Chunin Exams as the first step on his road of being able to protect his family Naruto leaned back and looked into the night sky admiring the beauty of the cosmos. As he stared into the night sky he felt his eye lids get heavier until his body finally gave in and he fell asleep atop of the mountain.

The stadium was full of people, shinobi and civilian alike eager to watch the Chunin Exam finals. Just as the sun came over the stadium ridge kages were taking their respective seats. Though the matches were to begin soon tension rose throughout the stadium. There were three contestants missing and the exams were soon to start. Who wouldn't be a little tense?

Standing there Shikamaru gazed around the stadium as if searching for something.

'There sure are a lot of people missing today. Naruto, Sasuke and even that one sound guy... what a drag .'

Sneezing, Naruto woke up from his peaceful slumber still a bit dazed in his 'loopy' stage.

"Huh where am I? Oh yea I fell asleep up here, wonder what time it is." reaching into his pouch Naruto pulled out a little watch that he kept with him in case he needed to know the time on a mission. Eyeing the two hands lazily Naruto gathered what time it was.

"10:57 huh? I guess I still have some time..." still in his dreary stage Naruto laid back down to rest until he realized that his match began in three minutes.

Shooting up like a junkie on heroine Naruto rechecked his clock to make sure it was correct.

"Crap it is right! How am I gonna get there in three minutes?!" Losing control of himself for a few moments Naruto starting running in random circles spewing gibberish until he remembered one of Medivh's sayings.

' When things are steep, stay level headed.'

Of course in Naruto's case this quote was quite literal in meaning due to the fact that he was on top of a mountain with only a few minutes to get to his round and with a 10 minute run back down the path. The consequences being they would disqualify him for sure. Calming himself Naruto cleared his head and put all his brainpower towards the problem at hand.

'Ok ok ok lets see... I can't go back down the path I came up on that will take too long... Dam that seems like my only option except to jum...' gulping and turning his head towards the edge Naruto looked over the village once more to see if he could actually see his target. As he feared he could see the stadium and it seemed like he could actually make the jump.

'… I am gonna regret this'

Trying to calm his racing heart beat Naruto did a couple of deep breathes. Now Naruto may not be scared of heights but he wasn't stupid enough to go jumping off a mountain a couple hundred feet off of the ground for the hell of it. So this was gonna be an experience he did not want to repeat. Summoning a couple of shadow clones Naruto told them what he wanted them to do.

After the clones gave him a look that said 'are you a dumb ass?' they relented and each of the clones grabbed him by the arm slinging it over their respective shoulder and took a couple of steps back. Naruto made last second aiming checks and nodded at the clones.

"Do it."

Both of them sighed before they began sprinting towards the edge contorting their muscles preparing for what they had to do next. Naruto offered one last prayer to Kami before the edge finally came, with all the strength the clone bodies possessed they threw Naruto like a javelin as he was sent flying out over the village.

Naruto marveled at the feeling of the adrenaline coursing through his system, the rush of air flowing through his air and the weightlessness of it all as he soared through the air like a bird. That is until gravity kicked in and started to drag him to the ground. Nearly losing his cool Naruto quickly grabbed a hold onto what control of himself he had left and prepared to do the next part of his plan. This next part would severely test his control though.

Steering himself through the air as he descended Naruto counted to three and made his favorite seal and did his trademark jutsu.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" with a puff of smoke a Naruto clone emerged directly below him only for a second later to be used as a stepping stone to survival.

Quickly jumping off the clones head Naruto lost some of his fall speed and was almost at the right angle for his descent. Problem with this was he could only be use once since the force he used to send him back up also sent the clone towards the ground at even faster speeds. So Naruto created clone after clone and stepping stone after stepping stone until he was about one hundred feet off of the stadium. After a couple dozen of clones he was right above the stadium.

Now this part would require a bit of time on his part and hopefully his barrier would minimize the damage quite a bit. Releasing the last clone he had used Naruto started to free fall towards the stadium ground.

Meanwhile down in said stadium a bored genius was keeping track of time since the proctor had told them five minutes to wait until the others were disqualified. That was four minutes ago.

'One minute left, wonder what happened to them. How troublesome.'

Just as he finished his inner thoughts he went back to his cloud gazing only to see an orange spec free falling towards the stadium. Squinting his eyes he looked at the spec in the sky as it got closer to the ground.

'Could that be?.. no it couldn't be.'

Then out in front of the spec appeared another spec in a puff of smoke.

'It is... does he have to make such a flashy entrance? troublesome.'

Back in the sky our blond nit-wit was biding his time waiting for his last jump.

'Ok now this is gonna be where either I land without a scratch or I land and break nearly every bone in my body'

Though the clones had slowed his fall quite a bit he was still falling fast enough to do some serious damage. Seeing the ground come up Naruto made a quick count to three.

'Ok one. Two... Three!'

About fifteen feet off the ground Naruto used his last clone as a spring board to land. Pushing off the clone the momentum of his push caused him to start a backwards rotation. Quickly improvising Naruto used this momentum to turn his stumble into a back flip. Still falling to the ground Naruto barely managed to get himself upright and his barrier in place before he hit the ground.

"CRASH!"

With a boy in a crater in the middle of the stadium nearby Anbu were getting ready for whatever it may be but were stalled when the Sandaime waved them off due to having seen similar explosions before. The audience on the other hand were baffled by this sudden orange blob making such a dramatic entrance. Among the crowd being Ino, Sakura, Hinata and Kiba. Kiba baring his teeth start yelling about it.

"Does he have to make a bang when he shows up?!"

Meanwhile Sakura was glad her team mate had showed up for his match though a bit pissed he was cutting it close.

"Just like Naruto to show up at the last minute. Though it isn't like Sasuke to miss a match of this importance."

Nodding her head Ino agreed.

"Yea but his match isn't until later so I'm sure they will make an exception for him." 'hopefully'

Still wondering if he was dead Naruto opened his eyes to find himself in a kneeling position.

'Ok I'm not dead so I'm guessing I made it.'

Getting up Naruto looked around to see everyone staring at him.

"ummm, am I disqualified?"

Sweat dropping at this the proctor shook his head still chewing on his twig.

"Nope you are actually right on time so get in line shut-up and wait for the hokage to begin the finals."

Nodding Naruto walked forward, although a bit wobbly and made his way next to Shikamaru. As Naruto got there Shikamaru sighed and shook his head.

"Troublesome."

Noticing the time was up the Hokage got up, took a deep breath, and began his opening speech.

" Welcome all and our deepest thanks for coming to Konoha for this years Chunin Exams, we have come to our final competition between the final candidates so we ask that noone leaves until all the matches are complete thank you and enjoy the matches." Cheering their approval the Hokage finally sat down also signaling the proctor to begin. Nodding slighty the proctor then turned around and addressed the examinees.

" All right now the terrain may be different but the rules are the same as the preliminaries, there are no rules. The match continues until one candidate is unable to battle or they die.

Naruto was calm on the outside but he flinched inwardly

" Ok, now the first match of the chunin exam finals will be between Naruto Uzumaki and Neiji Hyuuga, all the other contestants please make your way to the waiting area."

'Ok with all that clone jumping my chakra is a bit stretched so ill have to hold off on the barrier for now.'

Walking out of the arena Shikamaru made one last look back before he continued onward. It was now only Naruto and Neiji on the ground floor the two of them basically on a stare off until Neiji spoke up.

"You should know that it is your fate that you shall lose to me." Neji took his gentle fist stance waiting for the match to begin.

Naruto chuckled softly at hearing this, Neji narrowed his eyes at this and spoke with his calm collected tone.

"Whats so funny about your fate if I may ask."

Naruto stopped chuckling and cocked his head to the side and put on one of his famous grins, though this one was more of a smirk then a grin.

"Ah my sensei has taught me a thing about fate."

Narrowing his eyes ever so slightly Neji did not answer. Neji's eyes weren't the only ones to narrow as up in the crowd the Sandaime listened to what Naruto had to say. Anything that his sensei would say would give Sarutobi more clues to his identity. Taking this opportunity to continue Naruto pressed on.

"My sensei says and I guote, 'Fate is a misconception, it's only a cover for the fact you don't have control over your own life.'"

Neji ground his teeth and narrowed his eyes further at hearing this and everyone who knew Naruto were shocked, Kiba and the group being part of it.

" Did Naruto just make a witty remark to a Hyuuga?"

The others just nodded their head dumbly while they still tried to comprehend Naruto actually making a witty comment. Meanwhile Neji ground out his next sentence.

" You just sealed your fate Uzumaki."

Actually humored by the banter between the two he held off until just now to begin the match.

"Begin!"

Neji flew out of his position Byakugan active, out of sheer anger and irritation trying to get in the finishing blow.

Tenten up in the audience was a bit stunned at his sudden change.

"Wow, Uzumaki can get under his skin that easily, who knew. But he still has no chance against Neji."

Naruto just stood as the Hyuuga sprinted towards him. As Neji got closer he charged chakra into the fingers of his right hand and thrust them with serpent like speed in hopes of nailing the chakra point near the heart. Thats where he made a mistake. Being so focused on Naruto's tenketsu point he never noticed Naruto's body react.

Reacting with such agility that surprised most ninja there Naruto brought his left palm in a quick left arc parrying Neji's blow to Naruto's left hip. Being thrust off balance by the parry Nejii had no time to react as Naruto brought down his right palm hard onto Neji's face. The force of the impact caused the Hyuuga to see spots for a second which was all Naruto needed to regain his footing. Taking a step forward to gain his momentum Naruto then lashed out with his right foot connecting with the Hyuuga's chest. This sent the Hyuuga flying back a couple of feet before he managed to back flip and regain his footing.

Naruto sent out one of his famous smirks and spoke again.

"I'm not the same Naruto you knew during the pre-lims Neji so don't assume I am."

Naruto then got into a stance which put his right foot forward and both his fist's tucked away into a leopard fist and held out front bent at the elbows with the right one out further then the left one. All the while leaning back on his back foot slightly.

Neji realized that his anger was clouding his judgment so he calmed down and wiped the bit of blood off of his lip getting back into his stance. It was tense for few seconds until Naruto leapt off to attack his opponent. Opening up with a flurry of kicks aimed at Neji's upper body Neji found it difficult to dodge them due to the quick speed and unpredictability of the kicks. Naruto followed up by coming up low and attempting a rib shot which Neji dodged swiftly to the side. Attempting a counter attack Neji aimed a strike at Naruto's neck which again Naruto ducked his head and turned into a sweeping kick.

Back flipping out of range Neji then sprang off of his landing foot and made a bee line back to Naruto in hopes of catching him as he got up. Getting within two feet of Naruto he attempted another strike this time to his shoulder only for Naruto to smirk and turn his body clockwise missing the blow. Not only that Naruto quickly latched Neji's elbow in a lock by interlocking Neji's elbow with his arm and leaning it towards him.

Caught off guard again by the lock Neji only had a few moments before Naruto brought his arm down on his shoulder. Thinking quickly Neji did another back flip in place which made Naruto's blow miss and allowed Neji to strike the tenketsu point in his shoulder. Due to the gentle fist style's nature the blow rendered his arm useless to channel chakra and it also cause his arm to to limp and unresponsive.

" Do you understand now, with no way to move your left arm there is no way you can use your taijutsu."

Naruto, panting, just smirked again before getting back into the stance this time with only one fist up.

" I don't care if you take both of them out a shinobi's body no matter how battered is still his first and foremost weapon."

Not allowing Naruto another chance for his attacks Neji rushed to meet Naruto this time him being on the offensive. With one arm down Naruto had a hard time blocking and dodging Neji's attacks and soon he was starting to get hit.

Though not on his tenketsu it still did hurt a lot! Jumping back to try and get distance Naruto was unprepared for the Hyuga appear in front of him with a burst of speed.. Unleashing an onslaught of strikes it was almost a blur.

But Naruto was not out of the fight just yet. Adrenaline rushing through his body Naruto's only functional arm seemed to have a mind of it's own as it seemed to try and compensate for the loss of his left arm. Parrying, blocking, dodging, and sidestepping Naruto continued on through the onslaught until finally a strike seemed as if it would penetrate.

Smirking at finally getting through Naruto's defense, he was unprepared for his fingers to meet resistance. Before he made contact with Naruto's body a barrier of what he supposed was chakra was covering Naruto's body. Luckily he had conditioned his hands to resist this kind of force he was lucky enough not to break his fingers. Pulling back Neji realized with an examination from his Byakugan that though it did seem to absorb a lot of damage, it also used up a lot of chakra.

Naruto seeing a chance to take advantage of the Hyuuga's distraction lashed out with a leopard fist to the face only for Neji to lean back and jump a couple of feet away.

"Your in range..."

Neji then took up a stance as he prepared to strike.

"8 Trigrams 2 palms"

The first two Naruto managed to parry using his last bit of adrenaline

"4 palms" running out of gas eh couldnt dodge them.

"8 palms" since he had been struck Naruto had very little energy to defend with.

"16 Palms" the pounding started to get worse with the more points he closed off.

"32 Palms" Naruto now knew what a pin cushion felt like

"64 palms" The force was enough to send him flying back

The stadium was silent as Naruto laid there. The proctor stepped forward to end the match when movement from Naruto caught his eye.

"I'm not finished yet!" struggling to his feet Naruto was holding his left arm and breathing heavily.

Neji was of course stunned by this so he attempted to finish it again this time the impact sent Naruto back so Neji started to rant on how bad his life had been.

"You have no idea what it's like to be branded that sets you apart, a mark that can never be marked away!"

Slowly getting up again Naruto gave Neji a lazy glare and whispered to himself.

'You have no idea Neji. you have no idea.'

"I will defeat you Neji."

Shifting a bit Naruto got into a more comfortable position.

'Easier said then done, there is nothing I can do unless...'

The thought of his tenant came to mind. Begrudgingly Naruto realized that he would have to use some of the foxes chakra for this. Not for a lot but to hopefully clear out his chakra points and then he would finish it with one last attack. Closing his eyes Naruto attempted to draw on the foxes chakra.

"Don't you realize fool that I have closed off your tenketsu points so its useless to even try to channel chakra."

Not deterred in the slightest Naruto's face continued to radiated control as he continued his work. Attempting another verbal jab at him Neji let out one of his own smirks

"Why fight a hopeless battle trying to defy your fate?"

Finally succeeding Naruto slowly opened his eyes

" Because fate..."

" Is for those too weak to determine their own destiny..."

After this Naruto's body started to feel the effects of the demonic chakra course through his system. Tenketsu after tenketsu opened to him and he felt better then ever. Of course this came as a surprise to almost everyone in the stadium including the Kages.

Neji was getting worried about this chakra it seemed to have a mind of its own.

'What!.. it can't be... what is this chakra.!?'

Even as he continued to look at is with his Byakugan the chakra formed an etheral fox head inside of his body which seemed as if it knew Neji was looking. Just feeling the malevolence of the chakra was enough for him to picture the fox baring it's teeth and roaring at him.

But it seemed to end to fast because as fast as it came it disappeared into nothingness. Baffled Neji was also relieved at this but then Naruto got into another stance, holding his right arm diagonal angle above his head with his middle and pointer finger up. And his left arm was doing the same except it was across his chest and not above his head.

Neji was about to call it pointless again until a look from his Byakugan revealed that Naruto's chakra was flowing again. Eyes widening he had barely a glance when all of a sudden Naruto's chakra seemed to be separating.

Going further and further with his chakra Naruto continued his separating anticipating the eventual clash of energies. Still pissed at him for insulting him and Hinata he made it his duty to give the Hyuuga the biggest shock of his life. Quite literally.

Naruto still feeling the rage at the Hyuuga's action used his emotion this time though in a controlled manner. By feeding more chakra to separate Naruto felt as if his body was tingling all over. Naruto was not the only one to notice this.

Naruto's body started to spark random jolts of electricity in random directions. As seconds went by there were more and more until finally his whole body started to crackle. Most of the people in the stadium were stunned, some were worried, at the display of power and it still continued to grow! Even the ground at his feet wasn't left alone. The ground below his wasn't spared as cracks appeared around his feet as Naruto gathered his energy. With a voice that was devoid of emotion as not to break his concentration he spoke of a warning to Neji.

"Prepare yourself fool..."

Slowly Naruto brought his hand down in an arc behind his back before bending it at the elbow.

Neji seeing Naruto's energy fluctuating widened his eyes before his combat instincts kicked in and he started to attempt a defense.

"Rotation!"

Doing his family's technique by exerting chakra from all his chakra points while spinning at the same making the dome, he figured he would be safe. Boy was he wrong.

Taking a dramatic right step forward Naruto then thrust his arm forward with his fingers still extended and released his attack. It was almost instantaneous as electricity raced faster then the eye could see raced across the ground, making a trench as it went and collided with Neji's shield.

The expression "What the &$#$!" was that was not enough to convey his surprise. Not expecting an impact force of the magnitude he got hit with Neji, still spinning, was sent flying across the stadium and into the wall. Smoke covered the field for a minute as the spectators were eager to see the results, they were not disappointed. There Naruto was still standing in place with his arm extended while across the field Neji Hyuuga was indented in the stadium wall a couple of feet in, unconscious.

It took the proctor a couple of seconds to regain himself before he cleared his throat.

"Winner is Naruto Uzumaki."

As he spoke to the crowd people started to come out of their stupor and applaud. It caught Naruto off guard as he looked around the stadium. He had never really been in praised by an audience before and to him it felt really good. Soon enough he just went along with it and started waving to everyone while wearing a gigantic grin.

The paramedics had finally made their way to the field and got Neji out of the wall and to the infirmary. Meanwhile Naruto had gone up to view the rest of the matches.

Up in the kage box a certain Sarutobi watched as his little blonde friend made his way up to the candidate box. Shocked at the sudden skyrocket of power from Naruto Sarutobi was now very interested in Naruto's senseri. As the proctor announced the next match Sarutobi noticed a man on the far wall. Blinking once to clear his vision it only turned out to be a raven. Thinking he was possibly going senile he returned his attention to the matches at hand.

Naruto watched with mute interest as the final matches proceeded. Though he was a bit pissed that they gave Sasuke's round a skip to come back to he still watched attentively as the other competitors fought. Though this was stretching it as the only people he watched fight were Shikamaru and Temari. Though that was an interesting match in itself. Naruto had been slightly surprised at the seemingly lazy ninja's ability to use his brain power to defeat his opponent. Though technically him giving up still made him lose.

Sasuke was overdue for his match and this did not help with Naruto's mood. He was about to go on a ranting spree about favoritism when he noticed leaves falling at an irregular pace. All of a sudden Sasuke and Kakashi appeared in the center of the field with Kakashi doing his patented eye smirk.

"Sorry were late."

"Your late teme!" Sasuke grinned but it looked more as if he was baring his teeth

"I'm guessing you won your match?"

"Take a look at the field and guess."

Turning his head around and looking at the destruction he shrugged his shoulders.

"Not too bad dobe."

Kakashi on the other hand was a bit surprised that his student was capable of this much destruction. He would have to see what he learned later.

"Now hurry up and start the match!"

The proctor stepped forward in front of Kakashi.

"Now if you would kindly leave the stadium floor and go the stands we can get this match started."

"So Sasuke isn't disqualified?" Kakashi seemed a bit nervous at the possibility of this.

"No he got his match put on hold and you arrived just on time."

"Favoritism more like it" Naruto whispered to himself.

With that Kakashi 'poofed' out of the ground floor and into the stands next to Sakura, Ino, and Chouji. With that out of the way he called Gaara down.

"Gaara, come down so we can start this match."

Taking his sweet time Gaara took the long way down to the arena. After about a minute he appeared at the entrance with a bit of a blood crazed look in his eye. Walking out onto the field he stopped when he was about 20 feet away from Sasuke.

With both fighter ready and raring to go the proctor adjusted the twig he was chewing on and raised his voice again.

"Gaara vs. Sasuke Begin!"

Timeskip

Naruto was walking at a slow pace down the street still dressed in his funeral wear which basically consisted of an all black ninja garb. Him and his team had been given one week off due to their contribution to protecting the village. Although he still missed his Jiji he knew that he would have to be strong and not let it impede his training to become strongest ninja.

'Speaking of training I might as well go see what Bird man is gonna do now.'

Going at a more relaxed pace Naruto was just about to enter the forest when he felt something. Turning around he looked at his surroundings he expected to see something only to find no one near him. Shrugging his shoulders he turned around and went on back on his path.

Meanwhile around the corner of a building Kakashi came out of the shadows and eyed his student.

' Well Naruto let us see where you are going now.'

Originally Kakashi had just wanted to check up on the boy and make sure he was ok. After all, having a loved one die on you will usually leave its scars. But when he noticed that Naruto wasn't headed back to his apartment to rest curiosity got the better of him.

Naruto was making his way past his teams training fields and deeper into the forest closer to the mountain. Using his anbu skills he managed to follow the boy to the base of the mountain. But as soon as he got to the base of the mountain the boy just vanished. Taking one last look around to make sure he hadn't been fooled he had a last thought before he jumped back to the village.

' What is going on with Naruto?'

Naruto in the meantime was inside the cave walking towards the door but as he entered he noticed that Medivh had adopted a semi serious atmosphere. Before he could ask what was wrong however Medivh beat him to the punch.

"Naruto, we need to talk."


	4. Chapter 4

Adopting a neutral expression Naruto moved into the room and stood stock still in front of Medivh.

"So what do we need to talk about Bird Man?"

Medivh did a one eighty and took a few steps back before waving his hand in a sort of flourish causing two chairs and and table to appear between the two of them.

"It would be probably be prudent that we should have a seat for it may be a long discussion."

Naruto, not being the least surprised at seeing Medivh conjure furniture seemingly out of nowhere, walked over to the seat nearest him and sat down, Medivh joining him a second later on the other side of the table.

"My old bones are getting too tired for this kind of strenuous activity hehehe." Naruto sighed at that before letting out a bit of a chuckle

"You're not that old yet bird man"

"Oh? Tell me then Naruto how old do you think I am."

Naruto looked a bit puzzled at the seemingly fit slightly older then mid twenties fellow. But Naruto had learned the hard way before that appearances could be decieving and so Naruto thought about it for a few more seconds before answering.

"Well by your well trimmed beard and all I would guess you are 30 something."

Medivh shook his head laughing ruefully at Naruto's guess.

"I may look that young to you but I am technically 72 yeas old."

Eyes bugging out of his head Naruto tried to detect any trace of lie within the sentence. When he couldn't find any trace he just sat there thinking how crazy this was. A man, looking well within his thirties just turned out to be 72 years old. But something strange about how Medivh said it caught his attention.

"What do you mean by technically?" Meanwhile leaning on his hand which was on the table at this point.

"Ahh so you caught that, very perceptive of you Naruto, as you know I am no ordinary man."

Figuring that out earlier in their training considering Medivh could do things Naruto thought noone else could do, he nodded.

"Well to be technical I am a wizard."

"... whats a wizard?"

Naruto expected him to sigh in exasperation but all he did was smile gently at the boy.

"A wizard my boy is an individual that uses their knowledge of otherworldly forces to harness the energies to the casters' will." Naruto tilted his head sideways as if he was confused

"Otherworldly forces?"

"Surely you cannot believe that Chakra is the only type of energy in the cosmos. Remember when I told you that it would take you too long to learn how to use mana?"

Naruto shook his head as the memory of him talking with Medivh before learning how to make his barrier.

"Well chakra is the combination of spiritual and physical energy am I right?"

Naruto's neck started to get sore at nodding so much.

"Well mana in simple terms is the spiritual part of this energy put to use in using the spells where I am from."

"So where you are from they have never used chakra?"Medivh shook his head back and forth.

"No my boy for if they had then certain events would have certainly gone differently."

Naruto suddenly remembered the question he had been dying to ask but had kept forgetting

"Where are you from Medivh?" Now Medivh's eyes seemed to shine a bit at this

"Now that is the question I have been waiting for." putting his hands together in front of his face he leaned forward onto them.

Naruto leaned forward a bit too feeling that this conversation was finally getting to what Medivh was originally going to talk about.

"My dear boy I come from a land far...far... away from here. It is a place very different from the world that you know."

Naruto listened but after hearing that last sentence his brain stopped. Staring blankly at Medivh Naruto sat there for a few more seconds before speaking up.

"Bird Man did I just hear you just say you were from another world?" Medivh let out one of the largest smiles he had seen yet

"Yes I did my dear boy."

Outwardly Naruto was surprisingly neutral given the circumstances though this was probably due to the chaos that was going on in his head at the moment. One side saying he was lying one yelling that he wasn't and it soon turned into a mental image of a bar fight, total chaos.

It wasn't until the end of this mental fight that one last "he wasn't lying" was left standing. Shaking his head to snap himself back to his senses before leaning back onto the table while speaking.

"So why are you telling me this Bird Man?" At this Medivh got up and walked with his back turned to Naruto

"Naruto... what would you do if I offered you a chance to get stronger"

"Well of course I would take it dattebayo!" Nodding Medivh then asked his next question

"What would you do with power if you attained it?"

Resisting the urge to shout out "I would become the next Hokage!" Naruto thought back to the Third's funeral and about all the people who had given their lives to protect their home.

"I... want to be strong enough to protect those precious to me... I want to be able to make sure that if they are ever in trouble I will be able to go to them and save them... " Raising his head Naruto looked Medivh in the eye as Medivh did the same to Naruto.

Neither of them blinked as they silently stared each other down. Suddenly smirking Medivh let out a hearty chuckle lightening the atmosphere considerably.

"A fine answer boy, a fine answer." Naruto smiled too his mood lifting

"So what is this offer you were talking about before?

Suddenly smacking his fist into his palm Medivh seemed to brighten the mood.

"Ah yes that! Naruto how would you like to go on a little trip?"Connecting the dots Naruto's eyes widened before choking out his next statement.

"You don't mean..."

"I do..."

Thoughts flying through his head at an insane speed Naruto remembered that he had been given one week off from missions due to his contribution in defeating Gaara.

"Would I be able to come back in a week? I have missions to do after all"

"I was planning to bring you back by that time anyway so it all works out."

Naruto guessed that Medivh had known he had a week off, though for the life of him couldn't guess at how.

"Wait aren't you going to tell me about your world, it doesn't seem smart to suddenly go off world traveling, that and how are we gonna get there?' Medivh put his arms behind his back before sighing.

"Did I say that I would be going with you?"

"...Well no but since it is your home wouldn't it be smart to come and show me the basics and stuff?"

Leaning back into the chair Medivh himself a bit more comfortable.

"Yes I suppose it would make sense for me to come with you..."

"Then why dont yo..."

"Well since we are arguing logics here let me ask you this. What guarantees my ability to bring you back here once there?"

Naruto's thought process slowed at the sudden hole in his logic.

"So your saying that the only way for me to able to return once I go there is for you to stay here?" Medivh nodded his head as if complimenting a student for getting a right answer on a test.

"That is correct." Naruto still didn't quite get it though

"I still don't get it."

Medivh now fully in his "Lecture Mode" as Naruto started calling it a while ago, got out of his chair and started to pace back and forth in front of Naruto.

"The journey from my world to your world, Naruto, was not the easiest of treks I have made in my life. To be traveling through the cosmos is like being..." Medivh held out his hand and it glowed as something small materialized

"This rock traveling at a snails pace around the elemental nations." the scale medivh was talking about made Naruto's head spin for a second

"Also in order for me to get you to my world I had to leave a 'trail' so to speak for which I could send you. Otherwise without this trail I could end up sending you to a world infested with demons that would want to de-limb you and feast upon your corpse." In the back of his mind Naruto thought he had heard a sneeze but just ignored it.

"Managing all of this and scanning worlds continuously looking for a special someone and keeping your senses on the prowl for any foreign power that would not be too friendly at seeing some random human traveling through the cosmos." Naruto was now managing to see the scope of Medivh's power, for someone to do all of that and still be as he was now he must have been an incredible wizard.

"And also if I were to accompany you back to my world I would not be sure of even my own abilities to find your home ever again." Naruto unconsciously gulped at that.

"Now I will give you the rest of the day to think this over so go on now and make sure you want to do this." Flourishing his cape and facing away from Naruto was the boy's signal to go and collect his thoughts

Walking out of a cave made Naruto squint his eyes to adjust to the light. After adjusting to the light he opened his eyes fully and made his way back to the village.

Walking back into the village Naruto passed the gate guards giving a nod to each of them before they let him pass without trouble. His head lowered watching the ground as he walked throughthe village.

'It would only be for a week... it's not like I'm going to be gone forever."

Looking around the village Naruto watched as civilians and ninja alike were busy at work rebuilding the village from fixing broken apartment buildings to small business shops alike everyone was hard at work to repair what had been damaged. Continuing onward he saw friends of his along the way from Lee lifting heavy construction materials to Chojii using his family's jutsu to assemble buildings.

'To be able to protect those precious to me huh?'

Going around the village occasionally helping out with the rebuilding Naruto went over his choices every second he stayed in the village. Naruto's path took him to Ichiraku Ramen where he walked in and sat down on his stool. He had been there so many times they had a special stool just for him. As he sat down Ayame came from the back and walked up to Naruto.

"Well if it isn't our best customer what would you like today Naruto?"

"Hey Ayame-chan just get me a bowl of miso ramen."

"Only one bowl Naruto? Something must be wrong hehe." she let out a light laugh as she went into the back to start on his ramen.

A few minutes later she set out a bowl of the ramen in front of Naruto which he started to dig into. He started to lavish into it but as he thought about his eventual choice his eating slowed and slowed until it finally stopped altogether with his chopsticks in mid air.

" Well Naruto-kun it seems that somethings bugging you." shaking his head a bit Naruto came back to his senses

"Nah I'm fine Ayame-chan just thinking" Though he could tell she definitely wasn't buying it.

" No, I know you Naruto and there is definitely something wrong." sighing Naruto started to shake his head

"I can't hide anything from you can I Ayame-chan."

"When you have been coming in for your whole life you usually learn a few things about someone." she smiled wholeheartedly at him which caused a light blush but he quickly banished it

"Well you see a 'friend' of mine is going to be going away from the village for a while and he is reluctant to go."

"Why?"

"He doesn't know why, he knows its temporary but it's just...this place is his home... leaving it just doesn't..."

"Hasn't your friend been out of the village before for missions?"

"Yes but that was only one country away and he knew it wasn't far from the village if need be. But the distance were talking about here is huge and I mean huge."

"Since he is coming back in a week I'm assuming he has a way to get there reliably."

"Well getting there is the easy part it is the coming back that he is worried about. From what bird man has told me he can do it reliably but it's the possibility of 'what if' that haunts him."

"Well then if you want to get stronger and this man has a way to get you there and back then the only thing you can do is trust him." Naruto still wasn't convinced all the way.

"Look has he let you down yet?"

"No he has been truthful about everything he said and I even got stronger because of him."

"Then I would say you have to trust him for it to work." Well he wasn't looking ecstatic but at least he looked a bit more relaxed now.

"hmmmm well I guess I'll have to trust him then."

"I see you got your spirits back well I guess I'll see you in a week then."

"Ah shit I told you didn't I..."

"No you told me your friend was going on a trip" Ayame winked at him

"Hey Ayame-chan..." he held out his bowl "could I have some more please?" Ayame smirked at seeing Naruto back to his old self.

"Coming right up Naruto."

Time Skip

After going throughout the village randomly talking to the rookies and villagers Naruto decided he would go through with the trip after all. Hopping from rooftop to rooftop Naruto finally arrived back at his apartment where he quickly packed a backpack with all the essentials, clothes, toothbrush, and of course Ramen. And what else to bring with Ramen but a little pan and portable little gas thing that you can light to heat up the pan. (look it up its real)

Making his way across the village and waiting for the patrol of chunins to pass Naruto hops over the wall leaps into the forest and starts jumping from tree to tree. Not really sure how he remembered the way he just felt that this was the right way. After a few minutes of travel Naruto arrived at the mouth side of the mountain. Calming walking throught the illusion Naruto didn't notice a figure hidden amongst the foliage.

Walking towards the back of the cave and touching the wall the doors opened up and Naruto entered the Chamber where Medivh was waiting for him.

"I'm guessing you have made your decision my boy."

"Yes and I've decided that I want to go and get stronger."

"You do realize that once you go through with this that there is no going back."

"Not for a week anyway."

Medivh didn't respond.

"My boy this is where we part sadly."

"ok so... what do I do"

"You brace yourself and walk into the portal. The first time can make you a bit nauseous."

Gulping Naruto slowly walked toward the portal turned his head and gave a last look to Medivh. To which Medivh nodded. Nodding back Naruto turned back around and walked into the portal.

"What have you learned?"

"Uzumaki has been going to a place to train and as of now we haven't been able to penetrate it." The fire with the hood on nodded

"Don't put too much effort into it for now just continue to watch him."

"Yes sir."

Naruto was on his hands and knees barely holding in the contents of his stomach while breathing heavily trying to clear his head. Right now the world was spinning and every muscle or limb he tried to move only made it spin more. So he just sat there as still as he could and let his body recover.

The trip from Naruto's world to this one had not been a pleasant one to say the least. It felt as though Lee was done swinging Naruto as fast as he could

Sitting there for about ten minutes brought Naruto back enough for him to be able to get up onto his knees and fall back onto his butt. Looking around Naruto now noticed his surroundings. He was in front of a doorway with three arches 2 smaller ones on the side and one bigger one in the middle. The room was like a quarter of a circle with the entrance smack dab in the middle of the outer edge along with 4 random statues of horses or serpents he couldn't really tell. Looking to his left he saw what appeared to be a entrance to a stall but he ignored that for now.

"I see someone has finally made their way back to Karazhan ah a special one at that."jerking his head behind him Naruto looked around the room only to notice there was no one there.

"Where are you?"

"I am right here boy."

In front of Naruto materialized a man with a nice black suit, brown shoots and he was slightly balding. Though probably the only thing that was most wrong with him was the fact the man was transparent. Linking the dots Naruto crawled back a bit in fear.

"Now that is no way to treat your door man is it boy."

"Wait so your a ghost doorman?"

"That is correct there is nothing wrong with that is there?" Naruto was still visibly shaking

"Well I am afraid of ghosts so you understand right?" He shrugged not really caring

"Well no matter anyway the Master sent you here didn't he?"

"Master? Oh you mean Medivh. Yes he sent me here to become stronger by using his teachings. How did you know?"

"Could you hand me that piece of parchment in your pocket please."

Naruto reached in confused not remembering putting anything in his pocket but when he lifted his hand out there was an envelope with a letter inside. He gently handed it to the ghost man and waited for him to read it.

'How the hell did Bird man do that?'

"By the way what is your name and is it regular in this world for ghosts to come back from the grave?"

"I am Berthold and not unless some magic is involved do the dead come back from the dead. For instance when my master died the first time is how I and many many more showed up here."

"Wait he was dead and now he is alive again!?"

"Your the one who has spoken to him you should be able to tell if he is alive." Naruto rolled his eyes at that

Berthold finally managed to get the letter out and started to read it. Eyes off and on changing from the letter to the boy he finally folded the letter and gave it back to the boy.

"Well now it is time for the tour can you stand?" Naruto stood shakily and managed to regain his footing pretty quick.

The tour through the tower was a long and arduous one as Naruto was shown the Stables, the Ballroom, the library, the Gamesman's hall which turned out to be a giant chess board with pieces twice the size he was. The tower went on and on until they stopped in a bedroom. The bed was elevated like a pyaramid with three blocks decreasing in size as they went up finally followed by the bed which was surrounded by four bed posts with red curtains.

"Who's bed is this?"

"That is your bed dear Naruto it used to belong to the master but since he is not here you are allowed to use it."

Naruto couldn't help but be fascinated by how the castle or tower, whatever it was called, could be so dark and off-putting and yet so elegant and inviting at the same time. The walls of most of the rooms in the tower were a dark grayish and they somehow made him think of a prison. But when he had been through the Ballroom the lush vibrant furniture along with all the fancy curtains, tables, and tableware which had been somehow intact made it seem like a palace.

"I would recommend getting a good night sleep tonight for tomorrow I would recommend starting in the library."

Nodding at the doorman Naruto made his way to the bed didn't even bother with his clothes and just hopped into bed letting sleep claim him.

Getting up the next morning Naruto's stomach voiced it's need for nourishment which he quickly attempted to quell. Putting on his clothes Naruto reached for his back pack when he realized he left it in the Gatehouse entrance. Sighing he was about to head there to get it when he realized he could just send a clone. Doing his trademark hand sign Naruto poofed up a clone sent it to the Gatehouse. Since he knew where the Gatehouse was his clone knew too. Meanwhile Naruto was headed to the Library to start somewhere anywhere with his learning.

The library was huge! Bookshelf upon bookshelf of books were all along the walls of the room from subjects ranging from. Naruto walked through the rows of bookshelves until he came across one book that caught his attention.

"Elemental Magic and you huh?"

Thinking back to his lightning he decided to start here since it was near something familiar. Going to a table near one of the bookshelves he opened the book but then his stomach rumbled again. As he was about to go get his Ramen the clone got back into the room and handed Naruto the backpack. Naruto quickly rummaged through it pulling out a pot and portable stove which he started to boil water on. As soon as the water boiled he poured it onto his ramen ate it, and went back to his book. Starting off the first page and reading onward the book's index went on to describe the different elemental spell classes and theories starting off with water then goes to air then Fire then earth so on and so forth. Just as he started training with one of the training exercises for water he noticed his clone sitting at the end of the same table reading a random book about "Your Familiar and You".

'What is with his choice of titles?'

"Oh yea forgot you were out here, ok see ya."

"Hey I was still rea..." 'poof' the clone then disappeared and Naruto went back to reading.

But all of a sudden a trickle of what appeared to be himself reading the book flowed into his mind and he remembered what his clone had read.

"Wait... was that... the clones memory?" Thinking on it now made sense to Naruto about how he got certain details during his fights while all his clones were being dispelled around him.

' Wait if one clone can remember reading that book I wonder what 100 clones would do...' The image was staggering in his head and so he decided to test it one more time. Summoning another clone naruto handed it the book it was reading a while ago.

"Read this." raising its eyebrow the clone shrugged opened the book and started reading. After about a minute Naruto swiped the book and made the clone poof away.

Waiting a few seconds Naruto could feel the same flood of knowledge as before drip into his mind, thinking about what it meant Naruto's eyes widened at the possibilities. Quickly going along the shelves Naruto picked out 3 more books along with the ones he already had. Including a book on the arcane arts, Illusions, and charms. Poofing five more clones Naruto handed each a book and told them to each read a chapter. This would be the last test to make sure none of this was a hoax or random event.

After about 20 minutes all the clones had finished and poofed off at the same time. Unlike the other time though the slow trickle of knowledge now seemed like a stream which made his eyes flutter as his mind struggled to process all the information. A few seconds later he processed all the information and he remembered what each clone had read. Jumping for joy Naruto made ten clones and told five to start reading the books on the table while he told the other five to browse the shelves and grab one they through would help.

Naruto meanwhile was going to work on his taijutsu. Since he didn't feel like reading and one clone could do the same progress he could it didn't seem very efficient to do the same things his clones were while he had the chance to do physical activity. Exploring the castle for a place to practice brought him to a circular room that was past what looked like guest rooms though for some reason when he passed the rooms he felt a dark aura. Shrugging he walks to the center of the room he notices two pools of water in each corner of the room, smiling he walks over to discover it was only about two feet deep.

"Eh, as long as it's water it'll still work."

Beginning his training Naruto began with the usual calisthenics then moved on to his knuckle push-ups on the water. After about an hour of attempting to build up his strength he moved on to practicing the katas of the style starting with the basics then eventually linking them together making it seem more of a dance then a fighting style. Now Naruto had a dilemma, he did not have any trees to punch to build up his resistance on his knuckles. Looking around Naruto stared at the wall.

Sighing not thinking this was one of his brightest ideas he began punching the wall... yea hard to believe so shut it. After his first attempt to punch the wall he noticed he didn't even leave a mark. That and his hand hurt like hell, but still, a grain should have shaken loose at the least but nope... didn't even leave a scratch.

Now seeing it as a way to test himself Naruto attempted to at least crack the wall. This went on for a couple of hours with Naruto constantly smacking the wall. Still no results happening Naruto did feel as though he were making progress so it wasn't a total loss. Deciding to explore the castle more brought him to a door which lead to the outside. Opening the door Naruto was surprised at the dark, dank weather outside. The clouds were gray the air was a bit stale and there were creepy mountains surrounding the castle sized tower. As he walked to the center of the boardwalk Naruto felt the same thing when he walked passed the guest rooms but much stronger he looked around everywhere he could see, but saw nothing. Quickly leaving to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling he went back the way he came. Meanwhile, in the twisting nether, a presence started to stir at sensing the arrival of someone familiar yet different at the same time.

Not seeing the doorman since he had arrived Naruto decided to go say hello. Walking through the ballroom and down the stairs Naruto arrived at the gatehouse where he saw the etheral figure of Berthold standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey Berth how's the doorman business doing for ya?" he turned as if surprised to see Naruto

"Hello Naruto may I ask what you are doing here shouldn't you be reading up on the different arts?"

"Well I managed to find a way to read while not even there so it is all good."

"Such a technique for one your age is definitely impressive. Anyway is there anything I can do for you?"

"Well not really but there is one question I would like to ask, when I have been walking through the tower when I pass certain parts I feel a certain something I can't really explain it. It felt like something was looking or watching me but I checked and there was no one there. What could it be?"

"Ah you have felt the previous presences of the guardians of this tower. Well not all of them were guardians anyway but you get my point."

"Guardians?"

"Yes among them were Moroes the chef, Attumen the huntsman, and Nightbane those only listing off a few."

"Well the first two are pretty easy to guess but who was Nightbane?"

"Who is not the question but mainly what was he. And he was a dragon." Naruto's eyes widened at this

'He had a dragon?! Whats next demons?'

"Oh yea he even had some demons at his disposal if I remember right." Naruto sweat dropped at that.

"So how were they defeated?"

"Well back after the master had disappeared a demon know as Malchezar moved in and claimed the tower for himself, and since then he had summoned a whole bunch of demons and even a harem if you can imagine that." Naruto raised an eyebrow at that

"But then he drew the attention of various factions of Azeroth and soon adventurers swarmed here attempting to defeat him and the guardians. Most were less successful with some of them getting slaughtered altogether. But as they kept coming it soon began taking a toll. One by one they were defeated until the Prince himself was defeated, and since then it has been very vacant here. What you sense is their presence still lingering here because some of the guardians are not truly dead but just one with the twisting nether." Not desiring to learn anything complicated at the moment Naruto just nodded

"Ok Whatever the hell all that meant I'll just say they were powerful enough to leave a mark. Well I'll talk to you later Berthy."

"See you later Naruto, hope you do well with your studies." After that conversation decided to go release the clones and see what they had learned and maybe make some more to go and putthat knowledge to the test.

Going back to the Library Naruto stopped to see that his clones were still reading after all the hours he was training and so he told them to stop and they did. Thinking that it wouldn't be too bad to absorb it all at once proved to be quite nerve racking because as soon as he released them it felt as if a dam had broken loose and started to collide with his brain. Nearly falling over Naruto was his hands and knees as the knowledge was absorbed and consolidated.

About five seconds later Naruto's mind sorted itself out and he was able to stand up again although cold sweat did drip down his face.

"Phew that wasn't a very pleasant experience." But when he attempted to think back on the knowledge he discovered it was as if he had read the books himself. Getting excited Naruto made twenty clones this time around and made half of them continue to read while the other half were to attempt to do the spells with chakra and not mana.

He the original decided to go and spar with his clones that way he could test himself against anything but a brick wall.

After a couple more hours of training Naruto made his way back up to the library where the clones were waiting and braced himself as he prepared to release both of them at different times. Braced, Naruto released the first set of ten clones and felt the same feeling as before except this time he wasn't forced to his knees, but as he got sorted out he dreaded releasing this next group.

"Three, two, one... 'poof''" Naruto immediately felt more of the liquid sensation but this time it wasn't as bad.

"Huh I guess I am getting used to it. Oh well time for dinner." Cooking more Ramen Naruto had his dinner and went to bed. The next few days went by much the same way not much changing except for the occasional change of book or exercise until on the fourth day Naruto had discovered something new he could do with his water training.

" Hey boss could you come here for a second." walking over Naruto watched as the clone set up.

"Ok watch." as Naruto watched the clone held out its palm and pointed to seemingly nowhere. A few seconds later a rat stuck its head around the corner of the book shelve and hopped it's way toward the clone. Stopping right before the clone it then sat like a dog waiting for an order.

"Jump." the rat then jumped 2 feet into the air

"Roll over" the rat then rolled over

Naruto, impressed, began to compliment the clone but it held up its hand

"Wait." the clone then beckoned another clone forward

The clone previously working on water element walked up and as the first Naruto let up the charm the rat realized it was in front of a human began to scamper off, but the water clone got into a stance and held out its hand as if grabbing a ball and tensed. The rat sat straight up not moving a muscle as if he were dead. Naruto was about to ask what was special about that when the clone brought his hand quickly into the air dragging the rat with it. Naruto watched shocked until the clone shot his hand to the right sending the rat flying back around the corner.

"..." shocked for a bit Naruto then asked a question

"So was that telekinesis?" The clone shook its head

"No I was manipulating water if you could believe it."

"Water?"

"As I was doing one of the exercises at trying to sense and grasp the feeling any water in the room a rat scampered across the floor. I wasn't really paying attention to what it was so i attempted to grasp it and I ended up doing this..." Putting his hand to his chin the real Naruto put up a thinking posture

"... Do you think you could do that to me?" The clone went wide eyed at that and nodded it's head unsure.

"Well lets give it a test run."

Walking to the center of the room Naruto stood there while the clone walked to a few feet in front of him.

"Go ahead ."

Getting into the same stance the clone held out both its arms and attempted to do the same thing to Naruto.

"Here goes." Then the clone tensed with both hands.

"...Nothing?"

"Well I could definitely feel something pulling at me but it wasn't enough to move anything."

"Well we will have to change that ." Instead of trying to control the whole of his body the clone now went for just the original Naruto's arm.

"Ok one more time." This time when the clone attempted it Naruto's arm shot straight out to the side as if possessed.

"... Whoa..." His brain going at a rapid pace Naruto shot out an order

"You! I want a clone for the rest of the week to attempt to do this while I work out. I will get more practice in and I will be able to get more of a strength workout while I am at it." the clone nodding still a bit stunned it worked so well never the less continued to do it. The first clone stopped them before they could continue.

"Um how would this help with your workout?"

"Well think about it, with me working out physically and the clone attempting to control my arm or leg will make me struggle against exhaustion AND the jutsu." 'Ahhhh'ing the clone finally got it and went back to doing his exercises.

For the next two days, while Naruto's clones were in the library, he would have at least one clone attempting to manipulate his body while he would progress through his regular workout and Katas. Naruto's knowledge on certain aspects of magic including elemental magical and charms was increasing exponentially daily. Able to do simple charms and spells greatly increased his arsenal. On the Sixth day Naruto had one of the many future life changing events.

Walking out to the Masters Terrace as Berth had called it Naruto stood looking out over the valley preparing to discover what this presence was.

"Ok nothing ventured nothing gained here goes nothing." Naruto expanded his senses looking for the presence he detected almost a week ago. Feeling around Naruto discovered what appeared to be a weakness in the fabric of reality.

Over the past week the clones had also been reading on the history of Azeroth and the many realms it had. Reading these books had also improved his senses, including magic sense, to a whole new level. Probing the weakness eventually caused his senses to enter the twisting nether. The swirling energies of the great beyond almost overwhelmed him until something seemed to grab his senses and wouldn't let go.

Within the twisting nether the presence of before felt the probing of someone until it entered. Quick to act, not letting this chance pass by, the presence latched on and held on for dear life using the link as a way out.

Meanwhile, Naruto attempted to withdraw his senses quickly but trying to felt as if he were dragging Gamabunta out only using a rope. Using his willpower he finally managed to withdraw but it turned out to be to late because as the rift was closing a claw wrenched its way through the hole. The claw was huge it was easily the size of him and it was skeletal. Even more then that it was flaming and he could feel the heat from where he was standing.

Naruto shielding his face from the energies being spewn by the rift looked over his arm to see more of the skeletal creature move out until the top half of the creature revealed itself.

'Nightbane!'

Flapping its flaming skeletal wings nightbane dragged itself out of the rift roaring as he circled the terrace. Naruto, in a rush, ran towards the door in an attempt to get back in the tower proved fruitless as Nightbane immediately landed in front of the door blocking his only retreat.

It's head easilyreached Gamabunta's height which made it a very intimidating sight. The dragon was close enough to where he could feel the heat blistering his skin. Naruto backed up a few feet in an act to gain some distance. Nightbane stared at Naruto in an attempt to figure out who this stranger was. The only reason that he did not destroy the boy where he stood was because he had helped him escape from the horrors of the twisting nether.

Naruto, not sure what to do, just sat there as the dragon seemed to be identifying what Naruto was. But for some reason the dragon never attacked him, it just stood there looking at him with those eyeless sockets. It then looked as if the dragon recognized him for some reason as it then lowered its head to within reach of Naruto. Not really trusting this couple hundred foot tall dragon Naruto expected the dragon to fry him to a crisp but nope the dragon just almost as if expecting Naruto to do something. For the life of himself he couldn't figure what.

"uhh... Nightbane?"

Naruto stuck out his hand in an attempt to touch the dragon, but as soon as he made contact he felt his skin burn but not because of heat but because he felt as if a flame was burning from his hand into his very soul and soon after he passed out.

Later Naruto woke up to discover he was lying down on the terrace facing the cloudy sky. Sitting up Naruto noticed Nightbane sitting on the dome in-between the terrace and the actual tower. As soon as the dragon noticed Naruto was awake he seemed to stare at Naruto's hand. Wondering what he could be looking at Naruto then lifted his hand. Looking at his palm Naruto noticed a glowing rune on his hand.

"This is... your mark?" the dragon nodded surprising Naruto at its ability to understand him.

Remembering back to the book about familiars Naruto now guessed that this dragon was his familiar. Though for the life of him he could not ever remember ever reading about a dragon familiar so he decided to voice the question.

"So are you my familiar now?" the dragon nodded again

"So your not gonna eat me?" Nightbane looked up as if in thought but then laid his head down and went to sleep. Naruto sweat dropped at this.

"Ok so... I guess back to training for me then." Naruto walked back inside still kinda weirded out and excited at the fact he now had a familiar.

For the rest of the day Naruto worked his ass off hoping to get as much read and worked out as possible. The physical training was a bit different for the rest of the day after he got that rune on his hand. He felt much stronger then he had before and the clone practicing on him had even started to expand on controlling his body limbs at a time not just limited to one anymore. Even his other spells had been affected as they were now either more powerful or just easier to do. Needless to say he felt even more exhausted and so he immediately went to bed after dismissing his clones.

Waking up early the next day Naruto got packed up and was walking to the keephouse when he walked past Berthold.

"Well Berthy I guess this is goodbye for now."

"That it is Naruto though I feel it may not be the last."

"Eh you never know do you. Well goodbye until I come back I guess Berthy."

"You too Naruto... you too."

Naruto walked down the last set of steps waved goodbye to Nightbane and...

'Wait a sec...Nightbane?'

Yes taking a look again Naruto noticed Nightbane's head through the front door of the Gatehouse.

"I felt you should at least see him one more time before you go back and since he can't fit in here this was the best I could do." Naruto sweatdropped for what he felt like was the millionth time.

"Yea... well... see you later Berth... and Nightbane." Nightbane nodded his head and Berth waved goodbye

Naruto walked to where he remembered the portal dropped him off before and expected it to just appear back, but nope he just stood there looking like an idiot for 5 minutes.

"See you later Naruto."

" Oh shut it Berthy, he just said be ready on the seventh day that is all and here I am."

"Uh Naruto look behind you."

"Huh?" Looking behind him Naruto noticed a portal similar to the one he took and collected himself

"Ok NOW... here I go."

"See you in the future Naruto." Waving goodbye Naruto turned and walked into the portal

The same sense of nausea hit Naruto as he traversed the cosmos.

After what felt like forever Naruto was finally back on solid ground though a bit wobbily.

"Ah it seems you have returned my pupil." Looking up Naruto saw Medivh standing there with the usual normal smile he had on. Walking forward Medivh grabbed Naruto's hand and looked at it before brushing his other hand over it. The rune that Nightbane had left started glowing faintly then got brighter.

"It seems that you got a familiar my apprentice and quite an impressive one at that."

"Well it was kind of spur of the moment but yes you could call it that."

"I see... Nightbane must have took a liking to you."

"Wait you knew he would become my familiar?!"

"Well of course, that was the plan, why do you think he didn't eat you?" Naruto was now agitated at his sensei and huffed in agitation.

For the next while Naruto told Medivh all about the week including his training and encounters.

"By the way Bird man why were you looking for someone that had a demon in them for them to be your apprentice."

"Because only someone that has been through or is going to go through the experiences that I have been through shall be able to fully resist temptation and rise above all challenges ahead."

"Wait so... you have a demon sealed inside of you?!"

"Not anymore my dear boy though he was definitely the most friendly of Demons. Unlike you though my demon was not sealed within me but it was possessing me."

"The Demon I had in me was the Lord of the Burning Legion Sargeras." Not sure what an unsealed Demon would feel like inside him definitely only left that much more to the imagination.

"What was it like to have him inside of you?"

"Hmmm it is very difficult to describe since the Kyuubi was sealed in you but imagine trying to battle a god for supremacy over your body. That and with Sargeras influencing my development my power grew to astonishing levels unheard of before. Some people even went as far as to consider me a demigod."

"Wow...so after all the events history went on from there?"

"Ah I see you read up on the history of Karazhan and my other apprentice."

"It was definitely a messed up history."

"Of course, but enough about me I'm sure you want to get back to the village soon, after all you do start missions tomorrow."

"Ah your right about that well I guess I should be going now." Turning to leave he was stopped by Medivh

"Oh and Naruto."

"Yea?"

"Be sure to keep up your training on both the ninja arts and the ones we are doing, you shouldn't neglect either one."

"Got it." Turning to leave he was stopped again

"Oh and one more thing."

"sigh yes?"

"Use your abilities only when absolutely necessary or else people may start to ask questions."

"Ok for last time Bird-man hahaha." Naruto then ran out of the cave eager to get back to the village.

"Be careful out there boy."


	5. Chapter 5

XXXX

Walking through the forest was a different experience from the halls he had just been in only an hour ago. The halls exuded an old, almost ancient aura, as if the place had been there since the beginning of time and had started to wither with age. Here in the forest, however, he felt as if new life had been breathed into him. Perhaps it was just having been cooped up there for a week but he now had new found energy and so he started to leap through the trees on a random course back to the village, just enjoying the feeling of the wind and leaves brushing through his hair.

Finally getting rid some of his excess energy Naruto stopped tree hopping and started to walk down the regular path to the villlage. Walking along the main trail left Naruto to marvel at the beautiful surroundings. The birds as they chirped their early morning song, the occasional rustle of a wildlife critter, and the warm sunshine hitting his face.

His walking finally brought him back to the village gates, spotting the two chunin guards at their posts Naruto waved to them and started walking through the gate.

"Oh hey Naruto there's someone looking for you in the village." This caught his attention

"Who was it?"

"It was Jiraiya of the Sannin and he told us to tell you to ' hurry your ass up and find me or else your not learning any new jutsu from me.' or something like that... Naruto?"

The only thing left was a cloud of dust that had been left behind due to Naruto's speed. If anyone wanted a way to motivate Naruto, teaching him a new jutsu was one of the easiest ways.

Heading for the place he knew Jiraiya would be in his spare time Naruto started hopping from rooftop to rooftop in the general direction of the hotsprings. He was still hopping when he noticed someone had started hopping along side him.

"Hello this fine day Naruto! Are you full of Youth today!?" groaning inwardly Naruto just put up his usual smile.

"Hey Lee just got back from training so yea I guess I am."

" That is most great news I shall be prepared for our next spar!" Naruto shook his head at his friend

"Yea me too Lee."

"Well it is time for me to be going, it was nice talking to you. Off to spread the youth!"

And with that Lee started to leap off into another direction while Naruto continued on his way. Truthfully Naruto did look forward to their next spar, he wanted to see how his Leopard Style, matched up to Lee's Goken (Strong Fist). But that would have to wait as Naruto leapt further into the village.

Finally arriving at the Hot springs Naruto walked around eyeing any potential hiding place the Toad Sannin could be. About to give up and move on he spotted a giggling figure lurking in a tree. Looking up he saw the Sannin peeping with binoculars over the fence. Sighing to himself, but getting a grin on his face Naruto quickly made a clone, henged it into a random village girl, and sent it into the women's section of the Hot spring.

Jiraiya had been having a nice week so far with virtually no distractions. He was taking notes on all of the babes that would walk in when he noticed a new addition walk in. Noticing that she was nothing special he continued to look for better prey. That would end up being his downfall, for only thirty seconds after he stopped looking at her did he here a loud

"Pervert!"

All eyes immediately went to where the new girl was pointing which happened to be up where he was. gulping Jiraiya then started to sweat profusely.

Naruto watched as the girls, some of them being ninja, leapt over the fence and dragged Jiraiya down to where they beat the shit out of him. A few minutes later along with a few girly screams finally deemed it safe enough to move in. Avoiding the angry women in towels walking by he gave them a wide berth before moving in on his so called teacher.

Walking up to him revealed it was definitely not pretty. With limbs bent out of place and his face nearly unrecognizable Naruto sighed before kicking him.

"So Ero Sennin what you want to talk about?" the only response he got was a groan. Kicking him in the chest finally got a reaction out of him. Groaning again Jiraiya looked up at the brat in front of him.

"That was your doing wasn't it..."

"Yea..." next thing Naruto knew he was being put in a headlock by the suddenly better Jiraiya

"You Brat! you ruined a good week with that stunt!"

"Well hey your the one that said hurry my ass up and find you so here I am! N ow what do you need I could be training right now."

"Geez and here I was gonna take you on a mission and teach you a new technique." The next thing he saw was a cloud of dust before hearing Naruto shout

"Meet you at the gate!"

Jiraiya sighed and then laughed at the boy's enthusiasm before disappearing in a swirl of wind and leaves.

"Ok got everything re-packed, now I just got to meet him at the gate." After leaping from rooftop to rooftop he finally arrived at the front gate where Jiraiya was waiting for him.

"You ready to go brat"

"You bet your perverted ass I am."

Sighing for what seemed like the Umpteenth time they both started walking.

"By the way what is this mission anyway I kinda didn't get a briefing."

"Kami your always quick to run before you get the important information. We are going to find the next Hokage."

"The next … hokage?..." Just saying it to himself in repetition felt weird because not even a week ago the Old Man was still the Hokage. Looking a bit down Jiraiya tried to console the boy.

"Look kid I may not like to do this as much as anyone would but it has to be done. We can't be constantly mourning, we need to move on with our lives."

Naruto tilted his head

"You know you can actually be wise sometimes." Jiraiya grinned at Naruto finally being appreciated by his student

"Though you are still and always will be a pervert." Jiraiya's appreciation rating dropped with that comment and he just sat there with anime tears.

XXXX

In the depths of … well it could be anywhere … one figure was looking over a report while the other was kneeling in front of him.

"Is this all the information that you were able to get?"

"The man lives a very secret existence so yes this is all I have been able to get."

The man looked over the report in thought and took a look at the haphazard picture of a blurry man in a closing doorway. The man seemed to know where the camera was because his face was looking straight at them.

"We do not know enough yet to make any certain actions, so for the meantime just continue to watch the boy for signs of anything new."

"Yes sir." The kneeling figure then leapt off into the darkness.

Meanwhile the other figure, obviously in charge, walked into the dim light to reveal bandages that covered his forehead and right eye.

XXXX

"Ok so wait...these Akatsuki guys are after me because of the fox and you still refuse to teach me this technique!?" Jiraiya sighed

"Kid since your my student you have to listen to what I say and I say that we are gonna stay here for tonight."

"But it's not even close to being night time yet and there is still a long way to walk!"

"Listen kid I'm the Sannin and your the apprentice get used to it."

Naruto was about to argue back when he noticed Jiraiya's attention distracted so he turned to see what was drawing his attention. Behind them was an undeniably attractive woman that would make almost any man drool with appreciation, which Jiraiya was doing at the moment. Naruto's was surprisingly calm while looking at the beautiful woman.

' Huh Bird-man must be rubbing off of me or something' Before he could think anymore he felt Jiraiya push something into his hand.

"Hey kid here are the keys go to the room, mold some chakra, train, then sleep got it?"

"You have got to be joking you fucking sage!" But Jiraiya heard none of it as he was already escorting the women away.

Making his way up to the room Naruto decided this was as good time as any to get a bit of training done with his clones. Opening the room there were two comfy looking beds separated by a desk. It was surprisingly spacious so it gave him some room to work with. Making clones and assigning them different tasks to train on he went to work on his physical training with a couple clones trying to force several of his body parts in different directions.

After about two hours workout/training Naruto decided it was time for a break. Looking around he saw one of his clones working on charming different little insects in the room. Charming at this point would be calling it a stretch though for all he was doing was encouraging certain instincts in the critters to do certain tasks. His clones working on strengthening his barrier were trying different ways of constructing it. With just a wall of pure chakra in the way it would take extreme will power to keep it stable. Trying to build upon his idea of condensing it further clones were in deep concentration as they manipulated the chakra around them. The list went on as different groups of clones were working on different techniques from elemental magic/jutsu to basic illusions.

Dispelling them all Naruto felt the knowledge rush into his head as he staggered to stand up for a bit. When it had all been processed Naruto took a deep breath and reveled in the afterglow of receiving all that knowledge.

"That is still unbelievable." Naruto felt at the rate he was going he could be hokage in no time. And if he could increase the training to even more clones it would continue to grow.

'knock' 'knock'

A knocking at the door disturbed his afterglow, thinking it was the sage getting dumped already he felt no rush was needed.

"What, you get dumped already Pervy Sage?"

No response just another couple of knocks at the door.

"Fine fine I'm coming I'm coming." He unlocked the door and opened it slowly revealing not the pervert but someone he did not know.

The first thing he glanced at were the eyes, red and possessing three black tomoes.

'Sharingan?!'

Just looking at the man's eyes filled him with a sense of fear. A scratched out leaf headband on the man's head and the black cloak with red clouds left Naruto with one conclusion.

'Akatsuki...'

"So this is the kid who has the Nine-tails in him."

Naruto stared at the new-comer, what appeared to be a blue fish man, a head taller then the other guy, walked up beside him. With what appeared to be a sword wrapped up on his back his senses told him these were two people you did not want to mess with. Naruto was thankful for the many books which his clones had read on controlling his outward expressions because right now he was scared out of his mind, though he hoped it wasn't showing.

'To fear is one thing, to let fear grab your tail and swing you around is another.'

"Naruto-kun you're coming with us." The way he spoke nearly sent a shiver down his spine.

"Let's go outside"

Not really seeing a choice in the matter Naruto slowly walked out the door until he was standing in front of both of them looking up defiantly at them.

"I don't like his face, maybe we should cut off a leg or arm to keep him from getting any funny ideas." Naruto's eyes widened at that, there was no way there were getting any of his limbs!

Kisame slowly walked towards Naruto intent on cleaving off a leg.

"It's been a long time hasn't it...Sasuke."

And sure enough when Naruto looked past the older Uchiha he noticed Sasuke at the end of the hall with a murderous hate in his eyes.

"Itachi...Uchiha"

After hearing that Naruto was now sure that this man was extremely deadly.

"Oh ho what have we here it appears there is another Uchiha here, and similar to you might I add, he your brother or something Itachi?" Naruto caught the very slightest perception of a nod.

"Hai, he is."

"Hmm well this should be interesting then."

"Like you said before... I've hated you... despised you...and I have survived until now... To Kill You!"

Sasuke rushed at Itachi screaming a battle cry as he charged with a chidori in his left hand. Itachi only glanced curiously at the jutsu not even intimidated by it.

"Die!" and then a cloud of debris clouded Naruto's vision.

When all cleared he was shocked to see that Sasuke's technique put a hole in the side of the building but didn't leave a scratch on the man himself. In fact he was gripping Sasuke's arm to the side as if he were only a small child acting up.

"Well now that's over where were we Jinchurikii?"

Naruto looked back at the fish man who was slowly approaching him again. Going through his plan again Naruto waited for the opportune moment.

Kisame was thoroughly entertained as the younger Uchiha got his ass whooped but now he wanted to sever some limbs. Slowly walking towards the blond brat in front of him, he made sure to go slow and try to intimidate the kid pulling his sword off his back and holding it above his head. From behind him he heard a 'snap!' and realized Itachi broke the kids rist. The next thing he new however was his sword arm was swinging by itself as he attempted to cleave Itachi in two.

As soon as Naruto saw his opponents attention waver by the sound of Sasuke's wrist being broken he made his move. Putting every ounce of effort to make sure it was done before he realized what was happening Naruto quickly bended Kisame's arm to cleave Itachi in two. It worked perfectly as the Fish man was clearly shocked. Itachi however bent over backwards and avoided the blade altogether and it crashed into the wall making a hole.

Not surprised it didn't kill him but still hopefully thinking Naruto was still dissapointed it missed but it gave him the chance to put some ground between him and the two S-Ranked nins. Quickly attempting to do lightning Naruto as powerful as he could it still took him a few seconds which was all the time Kisame needed.

"Tch you little brat!" Kisame made an overhead swing at the brat's left arm. Not able to move fast enough while charging Naruto created the as strong a barrier as he could and prepared to withstand the attack only for the sword to make contact and start devouring the shield. Thanks to his hours of training and making his barrier condensed the sword did not immediately cut through the chakra. Having to struggle with the thick chakra left Naruto with a bit of room for a few more seconds.

'There!'

Not leaving anything to chance Naruto took his opportunity, brought his right arm forward on Kisames left side and unleashed the jutsu. A swath of destruction leapt from his hand and destroyed everything in it's path.

As the destruction finally finished Naruto looked up and was shocked to see his hand pointed to where he had come out of by Kisame's free hand. His room on the other hand was basically non-existent. As only a hole in the in the wall could demonstrate.

"My my you are just full of surprises aren't you. Look, my arm looks like burnt meat." Naruto just noticed that too and was glad at least he got a little damage on him.

"Well now time to finish this up before you can do anything else." Having no other options Naruto attempted to push more charka into his shield only for a puff of smoke to appear in front of him and a toad appear blocking Kisame's blade.

"Jiraiya the Toad sage doesn't allow women to seduce him with their beauty! He allows them to go crazy over him with his own beauty!" Naruto turned around thankful to see the pervert once in his life.

"Yea right you were drooling like a mutt when you saw her pervy sage! You could have gotten here sooner!"

"Come on Naruto don't call me that when we have company in front of us." Naruto would have none of it.

"Just hurry up and fight them Pervy Sage this is no laughing matter!"

" I don't get any respect around here!" Jiraiya made anime tears.

" Well well well if it isn't the famous Jiraiya, self proclaimed Toad Sage, and one of the three legendary sannin."

"Well isn't it a lucky day for me I get to get rid of two of the ninja worlds most powerful ninja in one battle."

"No!... he is mine to kill." Sasuke's body started to twitch as he stood up

"Alright then..." Itachi raised his hand in a mocking gesture "come..."

The following battle if you could call it that resulted in Sasuke getting his ass handed to him and Jiraiya running them off with his Toad stomach technique. Even Gai sensei showed up to take Sasuke back to Konoha for medical treatment, but not before attempting to convert Naruto.

"Your kidding right?" eye twitching Naruto eyed the green atrocity in front of him.

"No my dear Naruto, if you wear this then your training will be that much more fulfilling with the power of youth flowing through you!" with a smile that shined annoyingly into his face Naruto tried to get rid of him.

"Gai-sensei shouldn't you be taking Sasuke back to save his youth?" startled at the realization Gai immediately stood up and ran off

"Thank you for reminding me Naruto-kun I shall see you back at the village!" With a cloud of smoke following Gai Jiraiya walked up next to Naruto

"Thank you for doing that Naruto." turning to walk he was stopped by Naruto's voice

"Hey Pervy Sage..."

"Yea?"

"If you ever see me wearing that would you kill me please."

"Gladly Naruto."

XXXX

"Gah I am so glad that clones come in handy." Naruto was now laying on his back while clones off in the distance continued to train.

Thanks to his clone training technique the progress he was making with the first step of this new technique was remarkable, though he still had yet to pop the ball. He was getting real close though as the water balloon in front of him looked more like a frisbee then a sphere. He just couldn't see what he was doing wrong. Having gone on for a few hours Naruto had gone about the process of dispelling clones every thirty minutes that way he could get more progress faster instead of just having them all go through it all in one go.

"'sigh' I guess I'll take a little breather" plopping back onto the grass Naruto closed his eyes just enjoying the feel of his surroundings when he noticed the cat from the inn had followed him out there.

Deciding to take it back with him when he went back he just watched the cat play with the water balloon. As it rolled the ball back and forth Naruto's mind suddenly went crazy as he thought back to Jiraiya's demonstration and the visualization of the water flowing around in the ball.

'Pop!'

"Thats it!"

Getting another ball out of the bag of balloons he bought he focused on making the water rotate in many random directions at once. And with Naruto being Naruto he made it go in so many directions that after a few seconds of focusing he realized his hand was suddenly wet.

Wide eyed he made sure it wasn't a fluke by doing it once again. Popping in just a few seconds like before he jumped for joy before realizing the lazy Sannin was in a liquor induced sleep. Taking another water balloon out of his nearly depleted bag he walked over to the sleeping Sage held the balloon over his head before he gave him his wakeup call.

Jiraiya was in every perverts predicament, for the first thing he knew was he was surrounded by beautiful women about to give themselves to him fully and the next thing he knew was he was covered with water getting woken up out of his dream.

"huh.. What?"

"Hey pervy sage teach me the next step already." still in a bit of a haze he assumed the kid just dumped water on him.

" I told ya kid you have to master the first step before you can learn the next one."

All of a sudden he was soaked again and this time he realized Naruto had made the balloon explode over his head.

'He managed to do it in just a few hours god what the hell is this kid?'

"Hey Gaki stop doing that I get it already!"

"Ok so what's the next step?" Deciding to get to the next step and hopefully get Naruto out of his hair he tossed him a ball.

"What the hell is this?"

"Now you have to pop this one."

"Is that a joke?"

"Go ahead and try it." frowning slightly Naruto attempted to do the same thing to this rubber ball as he did with the water balloon only to realize that it just wouldn't pop. It did make it bubble like the Water balloon but it just wouldn't pop. Holding the ball out in front of him he was about to go keep training when Jiraiya threw something at him.

"Hey Gaki catch!" Naruto looked up to see a whole bag of the things before he heard Jiraiya speak up again.

"Well see you later kid I'm off to gather info on Tsunade's location." He waved over his shoulder as he waltzed off.

Sighing to himself Naruto set off to making clones and sending them off to practice on their own making sure he still had enough rubber balls for himself. Getting to work Naruto began to experiment.

XXXX

Laying on the ground panting Naruto continued to stare at the object of his frustration, the rubber ball. It had been for the rest of his day and ¾ of the next day and even with all his clones training the ball would still not pop. Though it did continue to flex and strain it just wouldn't pop.

Attempting to remember any of his teachers sayings or lessons he recalled a lesson on focus brought on by Iruka. What he had been doing up until then was just forcing as much chakra into the ball but what he wondered was if he was supposed to focus it instead of just forcing it. Thinking through his memories he came across a memory of a quote a clone had read during his time in Azeroth.

'The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.'

Thinking of it that way Naruto realized that it was just like a magnifying glass. If there was nothing in the glass then light would just poor through and nothing would happen. But if you insert a focus into the gap then you would burn the ground underneath it. Getting up on shaky legs Naruto closed his eye's in intense concentration and focused on the ball in his hand. Imagining the center being his focus Naruto started to form his chakra. As he forced more and more chakra into the ball he felt more pain in his hand. Pushing the pain aside Naruto kept going until finally he popped it... Naruto style of course.

The ensuing explosion sent Naruto flying into the forest with the only thing stopping him being Jiraiiya. Putting his hand out he stopped Naruto's flight.

'Kami he managed to pull it off in a day and a half. He even managed to burn his hand with the force of the chakra. What will the future hold for this kid?'

Slinging Naruto over his shoulder he took him back to the inn and put him in his bed before doing the same thing in his own bed.

XXXX

Waking up with a start Naruto realized he was in his bed at the inn. Getting up he stretched his sore muscles before opening the window looking out onto the nice day. Deciding to get Jiraiya up he walked over and kicked him in the side of the face.

"Hey pervy sage wake up." still refusing to wake up he shoved harder until finally he saw him sit up and yawn.

"Don't do that you brat I don't want to wake up to your smelly feet early in the morning!" ignoring the statement Naruto asked a question

"How'd I get back here?"

"Well you were knocked unconscious from popping the ball and so I dragged you back here."

"So wait... I popped it?" looking on hopefully he was rewarded with one of Jiraiya's smiles

"Yes you did Naruto." Naruto leapt for joy again and was about to ask for the next step before he was beat to it.

"I'll give you the next step after we leave here, you can do it along the way anyway." Gettting packed up quick Naruto ran out of the inn after thanking the innkeeper before waiting for Jiraiya. Ten minutes later Jiraiya trudged out of the inn with an angry Naruto waiting for him.

"Hey you could have given me the next step by now come on lets go." Naruto began walking with Jiraiya slowly behind him.

"So come on hurry up and tell me what is this next step?"

"Fine fine here you go." Jiraiya took out a deflated balloon, blew it up, and tossed it to Naruto. Looking to Jiraiya for an explanation he held out another blown up balloon.

"Ok kid you learned that the first step was rotation and the second step was power. The third and final step is to be able to pull upon 100% of both of them and maintain them while not breaking the soft balloon."

"Alright finally you actually explain something clearly to me!"

"I've done that for a reason kid, just go ahead and try it." Surprised at how the pervert was actually giving him lessons at the moment he focused intently on the balloon.

Gathering his chakra Naruto's eyes slammed open as he began to rotate the chakra to his maximum power while attempting to maintain it. It seemed to work at first, but after a few seconds his control wavered only a hair as the bubbling ball could attest to. Then only a few seconds after that the ball exploded with chakra going everywhere. Jiraiya laughed at his attempt.

"Kid you have to do everything 100% there is no half-assing here. You must use all of what you have learned and compress it so it doesn't hit the balloon. Once you master this step you master the technique."

Thinking back to how he only lost his control for a second Naruto realized that he could not let it slip once or the whole technique would blow up in his face, quite literally.

"Anyway kid you can keep training while we travel, we have to go to the next town in search of Tsunade."

XXXX

Another explosion of chakra brushed across Naruto's body as they walked along to the next town, it had been day since he had first started and he still only got it to last about ten to fifteen seconds before one slight mishap and it would blow up. Having managed to sneak off some clones in the middle of the night had helped him get further but he was still nowhere near holding it indefinitely. He wouldn't tell the pervert about training with his clones yet, he wanted to keep that a surprise. After all being a ninja was all about deception so he figured this would be good practice.

"Hey brat were gonna go up there and get a better view from the castle so hurry up." Naruto looked to for the so called castle he was talking about.

"Hey have you been drinking again, I don't see any castle."

'Huh he's right... this can't be a good sign.'

"Come on brat lets get a move on." Jumping from roof top to roof top Jiraiya soon left Naruto with room to catch up.

"Hey slow down you old pervert!" Finally coming upon the Sage stopped upon a random building top he noticed he had just stopped talking with a random villager down on the street.

"Geez would you at lea..."

"No time kid were getting close if what that guy told me was true lets hurry."

"Argh!"

After coming upon a scene with part of a wall crumbled and the castle behind the other destroyed the rest of the afternoon was spent searching every nook and cranny of the city looking for the Medical genius, as we now find them wandering down some random street.

"You said we were close almost 5 hours ago, but if that's so where the hell is she!?"

"Kid she isn't a Sannin for nothing remember that." Looking to distract the kid he started to walk into a bar

"Hey kid lets eat for now I bet your hungry."

"Are you an idiot?" Jiraiya turned his head back at him

"What?"

"I'm underage you dumbass of a sage!"

"So what? you don't have to drink anything just eat the appetizers."

"Why don't we find a Ramen stand somewhere, at least they serve actual food there." Jiraiya sighed at his student's stupidity

"Kid you got to learn that sometimes there are alternate motives to what people do, were also here to see if anyone has seen her moron." He stopped suddenly as he noticed a patch of blond not belonging to Naruto out of the corner of his eye. Blond being a somewhat rare color also belonging to his teammate immediately garnered his attention.

It was an awkward silence as the two people stared at each other until it was finally broken up.

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya pointed dramatically

"Jiraiya?! What the hell are you doing here?!" he ignored the question instead opting to walk towards her table. Meanwhile Naruto was left staring at the buxom blond at the table.

'She is supposed to be fifty? Kami what can't a good jutsu do these days...'

The dinner that followed was probably one of the most awkward dinners Naruto had been through his short life. Neither side spoke as Jiraiya and Tsunade drank away at the Sake while her apprentice, Shizune, just stared worriedly between the two Sannin. Deciding that he didn't want to stick out during this time Naruto just concentrated on his dinner.

"Kami what a day, its just like a reunion." stopping his drinking Jiraiya poured the rest of the bottle into Tsunade's cup.

"Orochimaru...what happened?" Tsunade gave her apprentice a look before replying

"Nothing much just talked about old times." pulling out a deck of cards she shuffled it a few times before placing it on the table in front of Jiraia. Taking the deck Jiraiya also shuffled it. Naruto not sure what was really the point of the card game just let it play out.

"I'll get straight to the point." he put the deck back in the center of the table

"Tsunade, the village has requested that you become the fifth hokage." Tsunade's hand flinched before resuming its course and grabbing the deck.

"Orochimaru killed him right? It seems he wasn't lying then." Naruto hadn't heard of this person up until now so he was forced to ask.

"Who is this Orochimaru anyway?"

"He is the last of the Three Sanin along with me and Tsunade."

"Whose the brat?" Naruto turned a slight glare in her direction

"He's Naruto Uzumaki." Her eyes widened a slight fraction

'The kid with the Kyuubi?' Naruto's blood boiled at the knowledge of his Oji-san's killer

"Hey if Orochimaru killed the old man then why aren't you going after him instead of talking to her?"

"Hey Naruto I need you to be quiet for now." Naruto persisted

"Answer my question."

"Naruto I'm warning you..." the look Jiraiya sent Naruto was a look that meant no questions asked.

Sighing Naruto sat back in his seat and watched the two of them exchange in conversation.

"As I said before the Village has requested you become Hokage, whats your answer?" all Naruto could see was her staring intently at her cards, though he had a feeling she wasn't concentrating on the hand more on another choice of some kind as she seemed to be staring through the cards rather then at them.

"I refuse." she threw down her cards and picked up a new hand

"Hey pervy sage as much as it pains me since your one of the three Sannin then why don't you become the Hokage?"

"Because only Tsunade is capable of being the 5th Hokage. Her combat and healing skills are unrivaled , add to that she is also the First Hokage's granddaughter and you have a winning combination for the next Hokage."

'I bet your just using that as an excuse you hermit...'

"Hey Jiraiya your new apprentice doesn't seem to match up to your last one now does he?" Naruto's being was aching for blood at this point but being Naruto he had always figured out the best way to annoy anyone he came across that he didn't like. He never let Jiraiya respond to that.

"Hey didn't hear you over there Oba-chaaan." he dragged out the last word

Jiraiya's and Shizune's eyes widened at that while Tsunade got a tick mark on her head, though she still kept her voice somewhat level.

"Quite a rude little brat too isn't he."

"I wouldn't go comparing him with my last apprentice you know that's just not fair." Naruto remembered back to when he said he was the fourth's teacher. Naruto had a tough time admitting to himself that is indeed a hard measuring stick to work with.

"But even with all his talent and skill he still died young for the sake of the village." Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously since he had a feeling where this would go.

"Life isn't like money, only an idiot bets his life so easily." Naruto was unconsciously grinding his poor chopsticks to dust while he listened to her

"Both my Grandfather and the Second wanted to end the war, but they ended up wasting their lives before they could accomplish it." Naruto's control over his emotions was wavering very dangerously at this point not only did she mock the hokage name but also the individuals who had used that name up until then including the old man.

"You've changed Tsunade." She laughed a humorless laugh

"I am over fifty you know, time changes people."

"The same thing goes for Sarutobi." trembling now Naruto knew he couldn't take much more of her rambling before he would snap.

" If an old man tries to be a brave hero again of course he is gonna die." Tsunade seemed to enjoy watching the boy squirm as she glanced at him.

Revealing the last card of her hand she let out an overly dramatic sigh.

"The title of Hokage is a piece of shit and only..." She never finished.

Moving faster than Jiraiya expected he only barely stopped Naruto before he had landed a hit. Naruto's fist was only a few inches away from her face while Jiraiya was almost sprawled across the table with his hand on his shoulder attempting to hold him back. Everyone at the table was shocked at his speed, had it not been for Jiraiya knowing Naruto would do something like that he would haven't reacted in time.

Naruto's face had a look of pure fury as his arm struggled against the sage's grip. Actually managing to move it an inch before he couldn't anymore Jiraiya finally pulled him back but he did not sit again.

"Anyone who mocks that Hokage name and the old man like that deserves a good beating!" She stared at him for a few moments before standing up eye level with him as well getting up in his face. Naruto would not back down though especially against her of all people.

"You sure do have a lot of guts to say that to me, you wanna take this outside kid?" Naruto smirked

"You want me to get your walker granny?" Tsunade glared dangerously at him while Jiraiya had an incredulous look on his face.

' You have a death wish kid?'

XXXX

Both blonds were standing across from each other in the street glaring.

" You do know I was one of the legendary sannin, there's no way I'll need to get serious with the likes of you."

" Care to back that up?" She held up one finger heralding a response from Jiraiya

"Oh a K.O. Notice?"

"Nope it means one finger. I'll only use this one finger to beat you." Naruto had to admit they both knew how to push each other's buttons well.

He was too angry to notice he wasn't even doing anything remotely tactical. Throwing shuriken which she easily dodged he made an attempt to stab her wildly but she easily plucked it out of his hand and with a loud 'Clang' sent his head band flying. Recoiling he got his senses back just in time to get a finger to the forehead which sent him flying back a long way. Finally rolling to his feet he cursed himself for being so stupid.

'Wow...she's strong.'

"Hey brat let me ask you something before you pass out, why do you care so much about the Hokage?"

"Well unlike you I actually plan to take that position one day because it is my dream to become Hokage!" startled at how much he reminded her of her lover and brother she looked depressed for a few seconds.

'Now's the chance! Lets see if that training payed off.'

Running forward to meet her head on he ran with both arms behind him. Startled awake by him running Tsunade smirked another smirk readying her finger again. Though this time about twenty feet away Naruto did a Rasengan with his right hand. Jiraiya was shocked at how fast he made it.

'He did that nearly instantly!'

Tsunade also noticed the technique and moved to put a stop to him. Raising her hand she then hit the ground with her finger causing a crevice to disrupt his footing and fall forward making the Rasengan explode on the ground thanks to his loss of control.

'He just tried to use the Fourth's technique on me... Well he hasn't perfected it yet but still if that had hit me...'

"Hey Jiraiya don't go giving this kid ideas about being Hokage by teaching him a technique he can't master."

"Well I'm his teacher so I gotta teach him something."

"Hey old hag give me three days and I'll have this technique down!" Tsunade smirked at that

"How about a little wager then?"

"Tsunade-sama don't!"

"Fine what are the stakes?"

' Your serious aren't you kid'

" You master that technique in a week and I recognize you can become Hokage and I'll even throw in my necklace."

"Why would you offer a man jewelry for a bet?"

" Naruto that stone on her neck could buy you three mountains if you sold it." Eyes turning into money signs he agreed.

"Fine that seems alright." he turned around and started to walk off to start training meanwhile Shizune was arguing with Tsunade

"Tsunade you can't bet that necklace it's..." Tsunade interrupted her

" He won't do it anyway so it doesn't matter let's go."

"Oh yea before you go here's a little payback grandma." Suddenly Tsunade's body was unwillingly slammed into the ground head first. Jiraiya was wide eyed at the power that his student just used against a sannin no less.

'Kid what the hell was that? I'll be talking to you later.'

Tsunade got up with her bloody forehead looking for the kid so she could bash his skull in only for him not to be there.

XXXX

It was a week later and right now Tsunade wishes she was in a casino somewhere. Unfortunately for her she has to be fighting against her old teammates apprentice and losing no less. About to get skewered by his kunai she prays to kami for a miracle when all of a smoke bomb explodes near her forcing Kabuto back. The first thing Naruto noticed however was not Tsunade but another familiar face.

"Kabuto?" said person smirked in his direction

"Naruto." Jiraiya didn't even glance at Naruto focusing solely on Orochimaru

"You two met before Naruto?" it was more a statement then a question

"Well yea we met during the Chunin Exams he helped us out during the forest." Before Jiraiya could speak he was pushed to the side rather violently by Tsunade as she rushed Kabuto again.

"Out of my way I can handle this myself!"

Tsunade pursued Kabuto as he dodged and parried all of her blows until he capitalized on her weakness by slitting his own arm spilling the blood all over her.

" I may not be able to take on two of the Sannin at the same time but at least..." he reared back and punched Tsunade in the face sending her flying into Shizune. "I can say that I took one down!"

Now it doesn't take genius to figure out that if someone is attacking or you or one of your allies that they are enemies and so Naruto figured Kabuto was working for Orochimaru now.

" So Kabuto why did you save us during the second part of the Chunin Exams?" if Kabuto was surprised by the question he didn't show it.

" I helped you strictly to gain intelligence on Sasuke's progress along with any other information, and you know Naruto I found out of all of your teamates, you, have no capabilities as a ninja." Naruto was not one to take insults at face value and leveled a glare at Kabuto.

"Go ahead and glare all you want it's not like that'll make you better than the genin you are at the moment." Naruto was now seething with anger but thanks to his memory of Tsunade's encounter he kept it under control.

"The demon inside of you does definitely warrant some caution but as for your skills as a human, they are non-existent."

"I'll show you non-existent!" Naruto had definitely had enough though this time instead of just rushing in blindly he attempted to close the gap as quickly as he could.

"Naruto don't" Jiraiya moved to stop him but Tsunade's poison was still in effect.

Kabuto surprised at Naruto's speed leaned back and avoided Naruto's his attempted leopard punch to the eye's. As Naruto followed through on the punch Kabuto attempted to hit Naruto in the back of the neck only for him to bend forward and swing his leg around like a whip hitting him with enough force to knock him back a couple feet.

'What was that? There was no data about him having taijutsu training. Oh well data isn't always accurate.'

The two of them went back to combat Naruto was surprisingly able to keep up with Kabuto, but with more experience than Naruto it would eventually stalemate out.

Grabbing the clones punch from the side Kabuto then flung the clone into the original as hard as he could. The impact sent Naruto flying back to shizune where he got up again.

'His apprentice is impressive I will give him that but where did Naruto learn that style of fighting? I'll have to find out later along with a few other things, but first...'

"Shizune you take care of four-eyes there and I'll take care of Orochimaru." she nodded in agreement

"Ok."

"Oh and before we begin I need you to do something about this toxin in my system."

"I'm afraid the only thing you can do is wait for it to leave your system, I'm sorry but there is nothing I can do."

"What?! Oh come on!... Oh well I guess I'll just face him with a handicap."

"Hey Pervy Sage what about me?"

"Naruto just stay out of the way this fight is over your head for now, leave it to us." Naruto was about to argue but decided against it

"Oh fine but you better kick his ass!"

"Will do Naruto, will do."

Naruto proceeded to watch as both fights began with both Jiraiya and Kabuto summoning their respective summons. Though when Jiraiya and Naruto both failed to summon Gamabunta things got a bit harder for Jiraiya.

Shizune's battle was going on along with this too as both medics proceed to throw weapons go into close range then fall back again still fighting. It was until Kabuto got the upper hand by striking her in the chest forcing her to retreat and cover the area with poisonous gas. She had let her guard down thinking she got him when Kabuto pulled a kakashi and reappeared right under her, severing her leg tendons forcing her to the ground.

Naruto nearly being snake food managed to escape but not before getting a good smack by the snake itself. Watching as Shizune was thrown aside and Tsunade was getting kicked while she was down Naruto moved to intercept. Getting lazy thanks to the good for nothing snake, Naruto let his head do all the work with his headband absorbing all the impact of the blow.

"Hey traitor I think thats enough already." Naruto then held out his hand as a perfect Rasengan formed, rushing forward and thrusting the technique in hope of obliterating Kabuto, he neglected to think of the possibility of a dodge.

Smoothly side stepping Kabuto took his chakra scalpel to Naruto's right thigh forcing him to the ground.

'Shit I can't feel my right leg!'

"Thanks to your broken left leg courtesy of our snake and me severing the tendens in your right leg just now you can't move."

Tsunade proceeded to watch as Kabuto literally kicked Naruto while he was down, all the while preaching about how it was pointless for kids to chase after their dreams. It went on until Naruto grabbed Kabuto's foot.

"Enough!" Naruto roughly shoved Kabuto back while all the while attempting to stand.

"I'm not running away, I'm never gonna give up, and I'm never gonna go back on my word." Tsunade couldn't help but see her lover and brother at that moment.

"Because that is my Nindo, my Ninja Way!" Tsunade's eyes widened even more at the striking resemblance between Naruto and her two lost loves.

"You should have stayed down Naruto." Charging a chakra scalpel Kabuto proceeded to smack Naruto across the face sending him careening back. Tsunade trembled as she watched Naruto get up again.

"Alright granny get ready to lose that bet." Naruto did nothing as he stood there barely retaining balance.

"Naruto get out of here before it's too late!" Kabuto would have none of it though.

"I warned you to stay down, now you die, you're just throwing your life away now!"

"Get out of the way Naruto!" he didn't hear her though or he didn't care.

'splash'

Pain soon washed over Naruto as he held his hand out in front of the kunai. As Kabuto stabbed Naruto managed to intercept the kunai with his hand which managed to pierce all the way though. Grunting Naruto proceeded to act like a crab and grab onto Kabuto's hand like a vice.

Kabuto was now a bit worried because he could not get out of Naruto's iron grip and Naruto looked like he had a plan.

"I am not gonna die until I accomplish my dream!" holding out his right hand Naruto formed a perfect rasengan and proceed to slam it into Kabuto's gut.

Incredulous looks from Kabuto and Tsunade watched as the technique proceed to rotate against Kabuto. As a last act of desperation Kabuto managed to get one good hit with his scalpel on Naruto's heart. That didn't stop him as he proceeded to follow through with Kabuto. With a explosion of chakra the technique sent Kabuto flying backward crashing quite spectacularly into a rock jutting out of the ground.

Everyone was silent as they watched to see if it was done, as the smoke cleared Naruto's and Tsunade's eyes widened at the figure of Kabuto still standing.

It didn't last long as Naruto though for as soon as he was visible Naruto let out one cough which sent blood flying out of his mouth.

' Growing...blurry... all...of...a...sudden' and promptly collapsed.

Tsunade immediately rushed to his side and proceeded to diagnose him before turning to Kabuto.

"How are you still standing?"

"Before he even hit me I began to heal myself, which is one of the reasons why I am such a valuable servant of Orochimaru." Walking forward to finish them off Kabuto was unprepared for the sudden flash of pain

'Ahh! what?!...no!' Kabuto then collapsed as the damage done by Rasengan finally kicked in.

Tsunade thankful for that turned all her attention back to healing Naruto. Putting as much effort into it as she could she started to sweat in exertion.

"I...cut him off...from the fox...he's as good as dead now"

"Shut up! You'll be dead soon too I'll see to that myself!" Getting back to her concentration she realized how much this situation was like with her other two.

'no...no...No...No...NO...NO!' She did not notice the sudden glow emanating from Naruto's right hand.

It seemed hopeless until a spark of life suddenly reappeared within him as he moved to grab her necklace.

"Told ya I would win." and promptly fainted again

She gently grabbed his hand and held it quite lovingly as she slowly healed it back to normal.

'To be Hokage...Just for once I want these words to be true...just this once.'

Back with Orochimaru and Jiraiya they were now having a stare off again.

"Poor boy it looks like he isn't gonna make it."

"Don't worry about him Tsunade will get him up and running in no time."

"Perhaps, but that's not what I meant."

"I would be focusing on me and not him at the moment. I'm the one you have to worry about."

'It would be dangerous to leave him alive for the Akatsuki to get their hands on him, but if he were to die now!' leaping off after the boy Orochimaru was followed by Jiraiya.

Managing to get Jiraiya with his tongue he used his tongue and slammed him into the ground causing a crater. Using this a a sort of pole vault he launched himself at Naruto with Kusanagi coming out of his mouth. Tsunade only began to move when all of a sudden the earth around her began to tremble. And she was not the only one to notice as Orochimaru's eye's narrowed. He was about to finish the boy when the earth a couple feet away from the boy shot up and a huge claw jutted out. It immediately smashed into the ground right in front of Naruto protecting him. Then on the other side of the boy another claw came crashing out of the earth and slammed to the right of Tsunade.

'What in the world?!'

Orochimaru immediately pulled back to where Kabuto was waiting for him.

"Lord Orochimaru what is this?" Orochimaru did not like this one bit. " I don't know Kabuto but do it!" Swiping blood on the seal Kabuto then made the appropriate hand seals

"Summoning Jutsu!" Manda made an appearance with a puff of smoke.

Back with Naruto next an even bigger crater appeared in the earth when a huge head jutted out and pulled itself up.

The Creature itself appeared to be a skeletal dragon, with two horns where it's ears should have been and a horn on top of it's head. With it's fiery red eyes it was an intimidating site to behold.

The ground trembled as the beast let out and earth trembling roar.

"Hmmm what's this Orochimaru what have you dragged me out here for this time?" Kabuto staggered onto his knees about to try and explain only for Manda to speak first

"Orochimaru for this I'll expect one hundred human sacrifices after this."

'Manda's not arguing against it? He usually makes more threats about being brought out for pointless reasons...It must be because of this creature.'

As the rest of the smoke cleared the skeletal dragon crawled up and spread its wings and a heat wave washed over everyone.

Tsunade still under the thing with Naruto was frozen at the moment unsure of what to do since this thing could probably eat her and Naruto in that huge mouth of his. But looking down she noticed Naruto's hand glowing a reddish color. Picking it up she noticed it looked that creature's head.

' Could Naruto have something to do with this?' She didn't have time to think on it as she saw Shizune a long distance away from there waving for her to move with Jiraiya right next to her holding his side.

As quickly as she could she slowly grabbed the boy while making no sudden movements that way the thing couldn't see her. Gathering what was left of her chakra she looked up at the beast and noticed it was looking at her. Adrenaline flowing through her she shushined almost immediately. What was weird though was that the dragon seemed to give her a slight nod as if approving of her actions.

Once Nightbane saw that it's master was safely taken away he looked back to his main target and roared a challenge to it while limbering up.

"Oh I am going to have so much fun with you."

Making the first move Nightbane opened its mouth and released a darkish reddish essence which raced towards Manda. Dodging quickly Manda used his superior agility to skirt around a boulder which became the attacks target. Impacting against the rock brought a hissing sound as it was melted down into lava. Atop Manda Orochimaru marveled at the power of the attack.

'That is one dangerous attack.'

Reacting quickly Manda made a dash at Nightbane in an attempt to constrict him. Using surprising agility Nightbane leapt to the side as Manda skidded past.

Counter-attacking Nightbane hovered a few feet off the ground racing towards Manda in an attempt remove the head from the body.

Nimbly dodging the attack like the snake that he was he then whipped his tail around in hopes of wrapping Nightbane.

Sensing the attack Nightbane quickly leapt into the air letting the attack miss it's mark.

Gaining some height Nighbane's body started to glow until it suddenly released in a flash of light.

Manda looking about making sure he didn't miss anything zipped along the ground until he was a fair distance towards the Dragon. Coiling his body he was about to attempt to spring towards his airborne enemy when all of a sudden the ground under him started to feel like molten lava. Quickly slithering out Manda along with Orochimaru and Kabuto kept swerving to avoid the charred earth and the random attacks Nightbane threw at them.

Avoiding the attacks Manda performed a U-turn then coiled and leapt at Nightbane in the air with it's mouth wide open.

Descending, Nightbane went towards the ground as Manda continued to fall. When he hit the ground however he continued to go into it as he burrowed in further into the earth avoiding all the calamity above.

Nightbane looked around as his opponent had disappeared and was about to ascend to the skies when something forced it's way out of the ground right next to him.

Manda burst head first from the ground and with remarkable speed began wrapping itself around Nightbane and moved upwards towards its head.

Nightbane let out a roar of surprise as the snake managed to coil it's way around his body. When Manda managed to reach and go up his neck he was not prepared for the sudden explosion of heat.

Quickly heating up his body Nightbane managed to produce heat that was now starting to burn through Manda's skin and into his flesh.

Hissing in extreme pain Manda immediately began to uncoil himself from Nightbane and slither as far as he could.

As Nightbane got control of his body back he made a mad flight towards manda in hopes of latching on to the serpent. Not quick enough to get his head he did manage however to latch his claws into the snakes mid body which halted it in it's tracks.

Feeling the sudden attack Manda was about to reach back and bite when a bony tail came and smacked into his head. Shaken up a bit it didn't last for long as he quickly latched on with a powerful bite.

Nightbane rather annoyed at his tail being bitten decided to return the favor as he clenched his enormous jaw into the snakes side.

Feeling as if his flesh were cooking in the thing's mouth Manda used that pain as fuel and used his strength to separate half of his tail from the body.

Felling the loss of his tail Nightbane did some payback as he ripped a chunk of flesh right out of the snake. And leapt back to gain some distance.

Manda didn't get rid of the tail unscathed though as he quickly tossed it out realizing how hot it really was. Able to feel his burnt mouth Manda groaned out a painful message.

" Orochimaru you better not summon me again unless you plan on being a meal, I will not be able to eat solid food for a couple days thanks to these retched burns." Both Kabuto and Orochimaru weren't prepared for the sudden plummet as Manda suddenly disappeared.

At this point Tsunade and Jiraiya decided to act while they could in hopes of destroying the traitorous snake once and for all.

"Shizune watch over Naruto!" Tsunade shouted over her shoulder as she ran. Nodding Shizune began to heal Naruto's more minor wounds so at least it would distract her from the giant skeletal thing.

Nightbane watched the little humans rush towards where his enemy had been. Should he attack them? No the blond one was protecting his master earlier so they were not enemies. Deciding to make his exit Nightbane went over to where his tail was and held his half towards the severed half. Almost magically the tail reattached itself. Taking off into the air Nighbane flew over to the spot where he entered this realm and flew straight through the ground. Not even an explosion of dirt, just right through the earth as if it were a ghost.

Tsunade and Jiraiya both watched as the huge creature flew overhead and vanished. They had questions but they wouldn't be answered at the moment due to all the commotion.

The skidded to a halt a few feet from the puff of smoke in hopes of confronting Orochimaru one last time. However when the smoke cleared there was no one there.

"Dammit he must have slipped away under the cover of the smoke." Tsunade was pissed he managed to get away.

"Yea, but don't worry we'll get him, he can't hide forever." Tsunade nodded and they both started walking back towards Naruto. Both silent for a few seconds.

"What was that thing?" Tsunad broke the silence

"Honestly Tsunade your guess is as good as mine, the bigger question is why did it show up and start fighting Orochimaru?" both of them thought of any clue or indicator that could lead them to an answer. Tsunade's eyes widened in realization.

"I think it had something to do with Naruto..." Jiraiya looked at her incredulously

"Naruto?..."

"Well when the beast had appeared his hand had started to glow with a strange seal, that is all I've got to work on." as they approached Naruto's unconscious form Shizune looked up from her work.

"What happened to Orochimaru?" Tsunade scoffed

"He fled like the snake he is." Shizune didn't know what to make of that so she just nodded

All three of them just stood there staring at Naruto unsure what to say at the moment.

"So what now?"

" I think Naruto's 'bird-man' may have something to do with this." Tsunade and Shizune looked to Jiraiya for an explanation of the bizarre statement.

" I'll tell you later for now just make sure the boy is going to be fine." Shizune did just that and continued to heal his right leg.

"Well be that as it may, Shizune we might as well get packed." Shizune looked up

" Why Milady?"

"Well I'm gonna need spare clothes while I'm the Hokage aren't I?" responding as if the most natural thing in the world.

XXXX


	6. Chapter 6

XXXX

Thanks to all the reconstruction and the issue of having to organize the 5th Hokage's Inauguration ceremony Naruto was now bored out of his mind. After having been brought out of consciousness they made their way back to the leaf village where Tsunade went off to prepare for her duties while Jiraiya had disappeared altogether.

'Probably to do some of his research that old hermit, hmmm...might as well go and see if I can go back to Karazhan and train some more.' jumping back out the gate past the guards Naruto made his way to the cave Medivh occupied, unknowingly being followed.

Jiraiya was following his disciple in hopes of finally seeing who this mysterious teacher was. Staying, he assumed, a safe distance behind Naruto he believed that he was totally fine, unfortunately he happened to underestimate Konoha's number one most unpredictable ninja.

Naruto halted for a second sensing the sage behind him quite a ways away.

'Why the hell is he following me?' confused but then remembering that he had showed off a bit of his techniques, taking a guess he believed Jiraiya was now trying to find Medivh.

'Well sorry pervy sage but we can't have that now can we.'

Jiraiya watched as the boy stopped and glanced in his direction.

' He can't possibly sense me this far away...' then at least a dozen clones appeared beside the boy.

'Right?' then all at once the clones jumped off into random directions.

Jiraiya sighed at his student and rubbed the back of his head, not wasting the effort to try to find and follow the real Naruto he got up and began walking to the village.

'I guess that patience is a virtue at this point... no point in rushing this. Not like we absolute have to know at the moment."

Naruto meanwhile was moving from branch to branch weaving in and out trying to make the most complicated pattern possible as he sensed Jiraiya getting further and further away.

'Finally, now onward to Bird-man'

Sensing the pulse like he usually did Naruto walked through the illusion and upward towards the wall, putting his hand against the wall made it open up immediately. Walking inward he noticed Medivh was sitting down in a chair he fabricated.

"Hello child what brings you back here today I thought you were on a big mission?"

"Well we completed it and now I have a while before any actual missions start so I was wondering if I could go train in your world again." Medivh closed his eyes and stroked his chin

"Before we talk any further what did your mission entail?" Naruto's eyebrow rose slightly

"Well we were going to get the Fifth Hokage why do you ask?" readjusting himself Medivh never stopped stroking his beard

"Well because I sensed some very strange occurences while you were away and I'm assuming they are your doing?" Naruto thought to any time that he used energy enough to actually warrant Medivh's senses but could find none.

" I did a few things that maybe did but I don't think they'd would be enough to worry about." Medivh stopped stroking his beard

"Naruto, your not aware that Nightbane managed to get to this world?" Naruto's eye's widened at that.

" Pervy sage and Tsunade both said that they managed to fight Orochimaru off after I fell unconscious. Why would they lie to me?" Medivh decided to let his student think on this by himself.

"I think they may be getting suspicious about who is teaching me, and they think you may have taught me to summon Nightbane"

"That is more then likely the case at the moment." still one thing didn't make sense to Naruto.

"Why wouldn't they ask me about it then?" Medivh seemed to have an answer for this question specifically as he grinned

"Well what would you do if they did ask about it? Would you tell them the truth?"

"Of course not, you made me promise."

"Exactly."

"Huh?" Medivh started explaining as if it was the simplest thing in the whole world

"They know you would probably deny anything they accused you of and with no evidence or even a first hand account from you they can't really link anything, in other words there are too many pieces of the puzzle missing for them to do anything." Naruto thinking on it barely heard as Medivh started whispering to himself

'Well it seems more and more people are getting suspicious.'

"What was that?"

" Nothing dear boy, now you said you wanted to go train for a while?" Naruto nodded eager to do something.

" Yea I gotta keep getting stronger, I just can't stop now."

" Very well dear boy I will have this portal open for you in approximately a week" opening his hand a portal of chaotic energies appeared swirling around before stablilizing. Before stepping in Medivh had one last piece of advice

"Oh and Naruto I recommend you get out of the tower once in a while, it could give you some experience with the outside world." Naruto took one step into the portal and disappeared utterly.

XXXX

On his hands and knees again Naruto was attempting to hold in the confines of his stomach this time being more successful. It wasn't as bad as the first time but It still was a nauseating experience. Being ported to the same spot Naruto walked up to where Bert was supposed to be.

"Hey Bert where are ya...Bert!"

"Yes Naruto?" Naruto gasped and jumped

"Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry about that, now what do you need?"

"I was wondering what settlement or village is nearest to here?" Bert got into a thinking posture

"hmmm...well last I recall there is a town called Darkshire right along the border of this region. Why do you ask Naruto?"

"Well Medivh said it would be a good idea to get out more and so I'll probably go there during the course of the week." Bert shook his head in understanding.

"Well is there anything else I can do for you in the meantime?"

"No I'm just gonna be training most of the time that I'm here just tell me if anyone visits or anything like that.

"I very much doubt that Naruto but ok."

Walking off to the library Naruto had a busy time ahead of him.

XXXX

With a couple day's past Naruto decided that now was as good time as any to go outside and venture beyond this castle. Berthold was even by the door to see him off.

" Remember Naruto that this world is a lot different from your own. Do not hesitate to use deadly force if you should be attacked, for enemies will not hold back." Naruto nodded

" Will do Berthold, anything else?"

"Just be careful, I cannot be sure what is going to be out there, after all I have never left the tower." Naruto gave Berthold a smile that basically told him not to worry.

" Well I'm off now."

" Don't die out there." Naruto laughed at the hollow attempt for a joke. Stepping outside Naruto took a deep breath of air only to find it tasting stale and dead. Remembering the route that Berthold had told him Naruto stepped down the stairs.

Not a moment later a ghostly wail caught his attention.

Turning his head to the right Naruto spotted a ghostly apparition of what looked like a civilian charging him with a pitchfork. By honed reflex Naruto took out a kunai and dodged the thrust, as it thrust again Naruto parried the blow to the side allowing him to get a look at the figure.

The figure was that of a man, probably a villager from when this place actually existed. He was kind of plain in the fact that he had brown hair and brown eyes. Weird thing though was that he was corporeal as Naruto could see right through him.

'Is he a ghost?' not having time to ponder as the apparition charged again Naruto leaned his left shoulder back as the pitchfork missed him.

Moving quickly Naruto slashed through the thing's chest. In a tiny flash of light the thing had disappeared. Sheathing his kunai Naruto turned to walk up the path only to run into something with a dull 'thud'.

It took a second for Naruto to realize that he was actually at the things belly. Looking up Naruto was now staring at the face of some humanoid monster that was a least 13 feet tall, remembering what he read in the books about Azeroth he assumed this creature was an ogre. And from the look on it's face it seemed to be grinning at Naruto.

"Ummm...hi?" The thing let out a cry and backhanded Naruto sending him flying. Naruto managed to backhand spring in mid flight and held his side.

'Damn that hurt!'

Not getting a breather Naruto saw the creatures hand go for something on his back.

Grabbing the kunai out of his pocket Naruto moved to intercept him before he could draw his weapon. Unfortunately the creature's hand was too quick and so it grabbed it's weapon and made a swing at Naruto. What the creature pulled out was a giant flail. Needless to say Naruto dodged out of the way immediately. The area Naruto vacated was cratered with force of the attack.

'Shit, better not take any chances.' making a handsign five more Naruto's were now standing with kunai's at the ready.

The creature looked at the clones curiously before roaring again while swinging his weapon. Naruto and his clones jumped over the swing that would have bisected them and each clone rushed in attempting to attack.

Clones were at the things knees behind it's back and even on it's shoulders...all were constantly moving and constantly slashing in hopes of bringing the thing down. But the creature's skin was tough, as multiple slashes and gashes appeared across it's body it did not seem hindered in the least, in fact it seemed to just piss the thing off even more.

One of the clones was backhanded and another was dispelled with the handle of his giant flail. The Thing finally managed to get a swing off which Naruto was forced to leap back to dodge, unfortunately a clone was caught in the path and got dispelled too.

'Damn this thing is tough, and one swing from that weapon and I'm out of this fight...might as well try this new spell."

Naruto held out his hand towards the creature as if attempting to grab it. As the rest of Naruto's clones were finally dispatched the thing turned towards Naruto and made a swing with his weapon.

Or tried to as he suddenly found his arm being dissolved from the inside.

Screaming in pain the creature's weapon arm was now gone and Naruto breathing harder.

' Dam, still need to work on that...oh well just have to finish this.'

The creature was finally over it's pain as it stumbled up with it's weapon in the other hand. The creature made a wild downward swing as Naruto rushed in. Dodging by side-stepping it Naruto didn't slow his rush. Forsaking his weapon the brute made to swat at Naruto. Still not stopping Naruto ran under it's arm and leapt to the Ogre's eye level, all within the span of a few seconds. The creature to stunned to move could only watch as Naruto's hand was right in front of his face. A small rune glowed on the surface of Naruto's hand and out of nowhere a sickening 'crunch' echoed throughout the area.

The force of the pressure spell was enough to cave in the head of the brute and send it toppling. With a loud 'thud' the lifeless body of the monster now lie at Naruto's feet.

Panting heavily Naruto marveled at the power of his work when he just realized that the thing hadn't been alone. Behind the body were the stunned followers, bodyguard he presumed, at least ten were there all ranging from different heights and sizes. But all were at least 7 feet tall. Not as intimidating as his previous opponent but still numbers held a factor here too. Not deciding to stick around Naruto saw the river to his left and when he looked up he saw the stone bridge that Berthold had talked about.

Running to and on the Water Naruto began running up the side of the cliff until he finally made it to the bridge.

'Well that was fun...gonna have to be careful not to run into them on the way back. Now onward towards Darkshire.' Deciding to walk it took Naruto a few minutes to get through the canyon and actually make contact with other humans. Though it was not through the usual way of course.

"An undead abomination makes it's way towards the town!" As if responding to that plea a glutteral voice cried out.

" I HUNGER DARKSHIRE!"

XXXX

Watcher Cutford was standing in the middle of the road as the abomination slowly lumbered towards the town. Beside him were his companions on his patrol.

"Cutford we need to fall back now there is no way we can take that thing on by ourselves!" Cutford steeled himself regardless

"You two go and get reinforcements, I'll hold it off as long as I can." he withdrew the sword off of his back and got into a lose stance.

"But Cut..."

"I said move we can't let this thing get into the town! " both flinched at the level of his voice but sprinted towards darkshire.

"There isn't any way I'm letting you through here you abomination." rushing as fast as he could Stitches didn't even acknowledge his presence until the blade managed to cut his side.

Letting out a cry of anger Stitches turned towards the Night watch guard and lashed out with his over sized axe in an attempt to cleave him in two. Leaping back Cutford attempted to move in for another strike only to dodge again as the creature's left hand came down with a hook attached to a chain. With the things incredibly powerful attacks Cutford could not get close to the thing.

This went on for a little while longer until Stitches managed to get Cutfords sword with his hook. Yanking with incredible strength his sword was sent flying from his grasp and into a nearby tree embedding itself halfway up the blade.

Grunting with annoyance he was determined to give all that he could just to give darkshire those precious minutes to regroup. He was caught up in his musing when he suddenly felt as if he had been smacked by the steam tram of Stormwind.

Stitches hit Cutford with the broad side of his axe sending him flying back and skidding across the ground.

Cutford could barely move as the abomination walked up to his body. Glaring in defiance at the beast his glare turned into a grimace as the thing stepped onto his chest, which he could feel, had a lot of broken ribs. Closing his eyes waiting for the mortal blow he was unprepared for the sudden lift of the pressure.

Opening his eyes he was kinda dumbstruck at the sight before him, a mob of teenagers were attacking the abomination all at once. They were not all different people though they all were the same Blond hair blue eyed teenager.

Stitches was frustrated, he was about to squash the puny human when all of a sudden a whole bunch of them were ambushing him. Though they weren't causing any real damage they were frustrating none the less.

Managing to get one with his chain and another with his axe he was about to turn around when he felt something strike him in the back. It forced it's way into his back and exploded sending chunks of flesh and guts everywhere covering all of the kids and an unfortunate Cutford. Speaking of Naruto,

"Gah! This stuff stinks like no other!" trying to wipe himself off Naruto realized the clones were still up and dispelled them.

Giving up on removing the stench Naruto walked over to the man that was attacked and held out a hand.

"Need a hand?" Cutford looked at it curiously before accepting it

"Yea...sure...thanks kid." Naruto grinned

"Well I wasn't planning on letting that thing kill you any time soon hehe." he laughed at that with Cutford also joining in but then grabbing his side in pain. Naruto noted that and, grabbing his arm, put it over his shoulder.

"You hurt?"

"Yea I think a couple of my ribs may be broken. Could you take me back to town they need to know that thing is dead anyways."

"Sure thing there uhh what's your name?"

"Cutford."

"Well Cutford off we go." Walking down the path Cutford started up a conversation

"So what were those techniques that you used to defeat that abomination?"

"They are special powers of mine." He gave nothing more then that which caused to Cutford to inwardly shrug. After all the kid did just save his life, if he didn't want to tell him about any of his powers so be it.

" Why are you in the forest in the first place? Usually people don't come to Duskwood on purpose." Naruto decided a bit of the truth wouldn't hurt.

"Well I was actually told by my teacher to come here."

"But still why here?"

"Honestly this was the closest place so I came here." Cutford stared at him for a second

" Well you must be really crazy or really stupid." Naruto let out a light laugh

" I guess you could call me that." A few minutes later and Naruto and Cutford were about a hundred yards outside of the town when a couple groups of people dressed in dark colors and carrying weapons ran past them. Trying to signal them proved fruitless as they seemed to be going down the trail out of earshot. Just then a woman and a couple other pople came up to the two of them. She looked like she was from a temple somewhere and the others looked like nurses.

"Cutford! Your alive!?" he forced a smile

"Yea not quite whole though." he let out a pained chuckle

"What about the abomination that attacked you earlier is it making its way here?" the assistants behind her tensed up a bit

"No no this kid here managed to kill it..." everyone stared incredulously at Naruto while he sluggishly scratched the back of his head.

"Your saying that this...child...managed to kill that abomination?"

"Well were covered in what remains of it...I'm surprised you don't smell anything."

"What are you talkin...Oh what is that smell?!" everyone took a few steps back while all having a similar look of disgust. The crowd of medics started to part and all of a sudden a women was in front of them. With her shoulder length midnight black hair and her air of confidence Naruto guessed she was the leader.

"Anyway, you two, we should get you two back in town. Cutford you will need some medical attention while I'm sure that you would want a bath stranger." Naruto definitely liked the sound of that

" That would be greatly appreciated,Thank you." Letting the medics take Cutford for medical attention Naruto was led to what looked like an inn.

Althea Ebonlocke watched as the strange boy walked into the inn making his way to the front desk. Behind her she heard the footsteps of a duo approaching her at running speed. They stopped right behind her and saluted.

"Is what Cutford said true Jordan?" said man nodded

"Yes it is Commander, we found what remained of the monster out in the center of the road." She raised an eyebrow

"What remained?" Jordan nodded again

" It looked as if an explosion went off inside the abomination. Whatever that boy did was extremely thorough." Althea put her hand to her chin in thought

"Give the boy a night of rest and tell him I wish to see him tomorrow."

"As you wish Commander."

Naruto sighed in contentment as he sat in the relaxing tub water, meanwhile his mind thinking back to what a day he just had.

'First I fight an Ogre, and next I fight some Abomination..."sigh" and it's just been one day what the hell could be next?'

Shrugging, Naruto got out of the bath and walked to the room in his towel. Entering the room they assigned him he found his clothes neatly folded by the bed. Reminding himself to thank them for their generosity he slipped into the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

XXXX

Waking up Naruto's eye's fluttered open expecting the sun to blind him a bit. Thankfully that didn't happen, in fact it was as dark today as it was yesterday.

Swinging his legs out of the blankets he let them hang over the edge of the bed. Dressed in his boxers Naruto rubbed his eyes trying to get the eye crusts out when he heard a knocking at his door.

"Who is it?" the door opened slightly and what looked like one of those night watchers poked his head in.

"I'm sorry to bother you but Commander Althea asks to see you at the earliest convenience."

"Tell her I'll come to see her when I'm dressed." Nodding the guard closed the door and walked off presumably to get back to his duty.

Running his hand through his hair one last time Naruto sighed then put on his clothes. Walking outside he just realized that he had no idea where this Commander was. About to go up to one of the random people and ask he suddenly heard the word commander from two people across the street. Walking over, the Woman turned to him in realization. Naruto waved as he approached the woman.

"Your the Commander I presume." She nodded at his question

"Yes I am the Commander of the Night Watch, my name is Althea Ebonlocke, it is my job to protect the town of Darkshire from the many threats of Duskwood."

"Must be a tough job from what I saw of last night." She nodded knowingly

"Yes it is not an easy task, but someone must do it."

"Anyway one of your people said that you wanted to see me?"

"Yes in fact, right now I want to offer you a job."

"A job?..." Naruto repeated the word

"Well not a job per say but I'll give you a task to be done, I will pay you for your time though so don't think I'll take advantage of you like that."

Naruto thought about the possibility of the job and the pros and cons.

'Well it would give me a chance to do something to help these people. It might even give me some mission experience...sort of...'

"What's the job?" her smile brightened at hearing him accept

"Thats the spirit!" She suddenly pulled out a little map of what he guessed was duskwood.

"Ok we are here." she pointed to a spot on the right side of the paper where a little town was .

"South of here, near a mine, is a camp of Worgen that has caused us a lot of trouble." she pointed to what looked like a cave.

"I want you to go to this camp and thin their numbers a bit." sounded simple enough but one thing was still a mystery

"What is a worgen?" not bothered by the question in the slightest she answered

"The Worgen basically are a combination of a wolf and a human. They are fast, agile, and they usually found in packs. Do not let them bite you, they have a very nasty infection." she handed him the map and proceeded to walk off to, what he guessed, patrol the town.

Heading south down the road Naruto passed a graveyard and went off the trail towards where he assumed was the mine. Walking through the forest Naruto realized that the forest had a dark taint to it, he couldn't be sure what the taint was but it put him on edge. Taking to a tree to see over a large embankment Naruto finally saw what a worgen looked like.

The creature resembled a cross between a human and a wolf, the hunched-over creature was roughly humanoid. Its body was covered in coarse, grayish-black fur with twitching claws and snarling teeth that looked ready to tear anything in it's path apart.

His observation was cut short however when he sensed something flying towards him at incredible speeds. Quickly jumping down to the ground he looked up to see the branch he was just on was lopped off the base of the tree. On the little stump that remained a Worgen looked down on him with a glare. Quickly whipping out two kunai Naruto got into a fighting stance waiting for the thing to make a move.

Shooting down from the stump the Worgen made a fast, wild slash at Naruto. Side stepping Naruto brought up his kunai in a slash against the things stomach. The wound cut deep as blood and ichor poured from the wound. Turning around the worgen snarled seemingly unaffected by the wound. It was then that Naruto saw what was happening to the creature. Slowly but surely the wound was closing itself up until all that was left was a scar.

'Crap looks like this thing can heal fast too.' not having much time to think on it the creature lunged again only to be sliced once more. This continued on as the creature would attack and Naruto would dodge and counter-attack.

'This is getting me nowhere, better try to go on the offensive.' dodging another wild strike Naruto moved within it's guard and began to hack away at the creature.

Caught off guard the creature was forced back as Naruto continued to hack and slash at the beast. Wounds would appear faster then they could heal and finally Naruto had enough of the creature altogether. Stabbing for it's head the worgen managed to get off lone last howl before it was cut off by Naruto's kunai lodging into it's chin and through it's brain.

But before Naruto could relax he suddenly heard dozens of howls sound on the other side of the hill.

'Well shit.' was an understatement because as soon as he finished that thought the hill was suddenly filled with Worgen attempting to rip him to pieces.

Quickly attempting to even the odds Naruto filled the area with clones and soon a small battle was ensuing.

With Naruto clones hacking, slashing, casting spells, explosive tags going off and Rasenganing the area was a blur of chaos. Though Naruto was doing exceptionally well clones still continued to die. The creature's had an inate sense that allowed them to work better when with others then by themselves. While one would draw the clones attention others would attack from the sides where the clone couldn't defend against. The original Naruto himself didn't get out unphased either. Sporting several claw slashes across his torso and arms, his clothes were looking like swiss cheese.

Shoving a rasengan into the gut of one of the worgen the explosion of chakra left no recognizable pieces while ones behind it weren't spared either as another one was sent careening back by the force of the attack.

He moved to attack another one when he was suddenly tackled to the ground by a large Worgen. Naruto attempted to move his hands only for them to be shoved to the ground by the physically stronger Worgen. Glaring up at the beast it just laughed at it's preys predicament. Taunting him the creature slowly lowered it's head preparing for the bite that would end it. Struggling Naruto attempted to move his legs only for the weight of the creature to render them useless.

Shutting his eyes refusing to give up he shoved even harder with his hands attempting to get free. However doing this proved fruitless as the creature finally reached his neck. Opening it's jaw wide it sank it's teeth into Naruto's neck.

That instant caused Naruto's world to go white as he felt excruciating pain from the bite. Suddenly he felt a primal rage consume him as his eyes turned red, his canines grew longer and his hair grew wilder. Uttering a primal roar Naruto mimicked the creature in front of him and sank his teeth deep into the side of the things neck.

The Worgen surprised at such an action pulled away immediately only to get a chunk of his neck and shoulder ripped off. Leaping back a few feet the worgen leader held his wound as Naruto started to wobble up. Extending his hand Naruto's claws made themselves known nicely as he held them at his sides ready to strike. His eyes were what they usually were when he transformed, blood red with a black slit in the middle, filled with so much primal fury that it made even the worgen cringe under his menacing gaze.

Roaring at the wounded Worgen leader Naruto rushed at him attempting to rend him using only his bare hands, well claws. Doing this proved difficult however as every worgen there was now attempting to protect their leader. From everywhere Worgen suddenly started to rush Naruto in hopes of bringing him down. But it was as if he they were throwing tissues at him for all the good it did. It was as if he were an animal ripping through rank upon rank of Worgen. Ripping, slicing, or kicking worgen after worgen continued to fall under Naruto's tenacious assault.

This continued until finally the leader of the Worgen howled out in extreme agony which caused all the other Worgen to turn and rush towards their leader. Taking a few seconds to what look like communicate the leader barked out pained orders and then they turned and ran.

As the Worgen continued to flee Naruto managed to do a clawed clothesline that shoved the worgen to the ground in a heap. Getting close enough for the worgen to look into his eye's, the creature roared in what appeared to be defiance. Roaring right back Naruto grabbed the worgen's throat and ripped it out of it's socket.

The body flailed on the ground for a couple of seconds before standing still. Seeing that there were no enemies left Naruto promptly collapsed.

Everything grew quiet after that with nothing but the smell of death hanging in the air.

XXXX

Everything was quiet around Darkshire as it appeared to be a usual day with people going about their business like usual. All of that changed however when a howl that the Night Watch knew rang throughout the forest. Althea Ebonlock noticed that it had come from the area the Blond stranger went.

"Captain!" she addressed her call to Captain Helvas Grange, a commander of a special unit of scouts for the night watch.

"Yes Commander?"

"Take your unit and go scout out near the mine to the south."

"The one where the Worgen are said to have appeared?"

"Yes that one, I sent a man on a mission there and he may be in trouble. Go and see what has happened, If you need assistance you know what to do." the captain then patted the horn at his belt.

"Will do Milady."

Quickly gathering the rest of his unit they quickly made their way south along the trail. They were making good time until they passed the graveyard. Along the path of the graveyard came the undead that frequented that area.

"Heads up, Ambush!" as the first one approached the captain blocked it's swipe with his shield and slashed it down the middle. All of his unit had experience fighting undead and had no problem finishing up the assault.

Bashing the horror with his shield and forcing it to the ground Captain Helvas finished it off by removing it's head with his sword.

"Good job, but we have to..." suddenly everyone fell deathly still. A heavy aura suddenly filled the air. It wasn't the same taint that filled the forest, everyone had gotten used to that. This was worse, far far worse, It seemed far more primal and ancient.

"We have to hurry lets move!" taking off at a sprint they made their way down the trail came around the edge of a tree and saw the battlefield. Looking to the center of it they saw as the blond kid his commander had talked about, finish ripping out the throat of one of the Worgen before collapsing to the ground.

Rushing out to the blond he knelt beside as his unit took a protective formation around them.

Looking over the blonde the captain eye the bite mark at the kids neck, the moment he saw that wound on the kid he believed it was all over, until a red substance started to pour from the inside of the wound and begin stitching the tissue back together.

'What in the world is that?' usually anyone would be dead within just a little while of being bitten by a worgen and yet here is this kid not only surviving but even healing.

" Bandage him up we'll take him back to Darkshire."

" Yes sir." Standing up and looking around the captain whistled in awe for what the boy had done.

"I must say this boy fights like a demon if this means anything."

"Sir?"

"Nothing just rambling...are you finished yet?"

"Just finished now sir he's as patched as we can get him."

"Good let's get him back and report to Althea, she does not like to be kept waiting."

XXXX

Opening his eyes Naruto's world was blurry for a couple of seconds before it finally straightened out making everything clear again. He was in a bed that much was clear, and by the looks of the room he was in the inn he stayed at last night.

"Finally up are we?" Looking to the side of his bed he saw the Commander sitting in a chair right next to his bed. Sitting up in the bed Naruto rubbed his eyes attempting to make them stay open.

"How long was I out?"

"A couple of hours at least, though to be honest I am surprised that your alive at all."

"Why is that?" she pointed to his neck

"You were bitten by one of them weren't you..." rubbing at his shoulder he noticed bandages there, starting to unwrap them he was stopped by Althea

"Those are to cover your wounds and keep them from getting worse don't touch them!" he just shrugged her off

"Don't worry I heal really fast." He finished pulling off the last of his bandages and rubbed the soar area underneath it. Usually wounds didn't leave scars on him but right under the bandages was the shallow remnant of a scar that covered his shoulder.

"I'm surprised that's all that is left behind, you don't know how lucky you are kid."

"Why is that?" she looked uneasy for a second

"Remember the infection I told you about?" Dredging up the memory Naruto nodded

"This infection is known to be lethal. To see that you are awake, better yet alive is a miracle in itself."

"Ya well...lets just say that due to some circumstances I heal extremely well." Naruto was trying to get off the subject of him and she could tell too.

"Anyway, about that payment I owe you..." Naruto perked up at this

"I believe this will cover your services plus a nice bonus for you too." she tossed his a sack which appeared to be filled with money. Taking the bag and opening it, his eyes widened at the pile of gold coins inside the bag.

"Yes this will more than do!"

"That is good to hear, so if I may ask what are you going to do now?"

"If it's alright with you then is it possible for me to stay for the rest of the day?."

"Of course, consider the room on the house while you rest up. Well it's time for me to go." getting out of her chair and giving him one last smile she closed the door.

Her expression turned somber as she didn't even seem to acknowledge the presence of the person next to her.

"How is he alive?" The person in question still dressed in priest robes shook her head

"Honestly commander I am not sure why, though it may have something to do with the boy's mana if you could call it that." This got her even more intrigued

"What do you mean?" she turned around to face the priest and saw her start to unwrap bandages that were on her hand. Letting them fall off she raised her hand to where Althea could look. Eye's widening slightly Althea eye her hand and saw that the center of her palm looked as if it had been burnt then healed.

"Where did you get that?"

"When I attempted to heal the boy's shoulder there was an energy of some sort leaking out of the wound. After touching the wound with some healing magic it felt as if I put my hand into the center of a fire."

"Why is there a scar? Usually you can heal burns back to their original state."

"That energy is something else, even with my healing magic it will be some time before this disappears."

"What kind of energy do you think it was?" she shook her head in thought about it.

"I can't be sure since this is not my field but it seemed to be demonic in origin." Although she looked calm on the outside inside Althea was not sure how to react to this information.

"What should we do now commander?" Althea took a minute to think on it before answering

"What can we do? We don't have enough information to do anything and I don't even know what to do with him now.'sigh' Will your hand be ok?"

"I should be fine now, all I feel is a dull throbbing."

"Ok then you may go back to your duties." The priest nodded her head slightly then turned around and left leaving Althea to her thoughts.

XXXX

Walking out of the inn he stayed in he looked around and noticed people go about their business many were looking his way and smiling while others waved as they passed. Not used to all the positive attention he just shyly waved back. Looking around he saw one of the Nightwatch he could actually recall from his memory.

"Hey!" running up to him Naruto noticed that he was favoring one leg as he leaned against a fence post.

"Hey kid how you healin up after that incident?"

"I'll be fine I'm a fast healer, what about you?" Berthold gestured to his rib area

"Doc says it'll be a while before I'll be able to go back on duty again, probably a week or two."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Cutford waved it off

"Hey if it weren't for you I wouldn't be alive at all so don't worry about it, in fact I should be thanking you."

" It's no problem at all, couldn't let you be zombie food now could I."

"I hope not, so what are you doing now?"

"I'm actually going to stay in town for the rest of the day and head out tomorrow." Cutford let his eyebrow raise

"You've only been here two days, shouldn't you stay longer? I'm sure Althea would be happy to give you some more work."

"Thanks and she already has, but I have to go I only have a limited time here so I have to go make the best of it while I can." Cutford sighed before shaking his head

"Well you just better be sure that you come visit. You'd be welcome here after what you did with that undead thing."

"But of course." and with that Naruto turned and walked off to explore Darkshire

As he walked around the town most people seemed to know that it was him that had defeated the abomination on it's way to destroy their home. Because of this it instantly made Naruto well liked around the town. Everywhere he walked people would either smile pleasantly to him, stop him to thank him, and even had several people come and shake his hand. Now Naruto had never really been what he considered 'well liked' around Konoha so all the attention was embarrassing yet refreshing at the same time. People actually appreciated what he did for them, whenever he got back from a mission the people of Konoha would treat it like an every day occurrence.

And yet here,these people,were fighting for their lives nearly every single day, treated him as if he were a celebrity. Deciding not to leave Darkshire for the rest of the day Naruto walked around exploring the many different areas of Darkshire including the town hall, the southern farms and even the gryphon's landing area for travelers. Of course this was the first time Naruto had ever seen a gryphon, so it left him mesmerized for a while. Finally moving on Naruto's body felt that it was getting late, due to the fact that he couldn't see the sky clearly, and so he made his way to the inn to get dinner and head to bed.

Walking through the entryway into the inn Naruto took a seat in one of the many open tables. Waiting for only a second a waiter finally came to his table putting a glass of water in front of him.

"What'll it be hun? looking up Naruto saw that his waiter was quite attractive and it took him a second to regain himself.

"huh? oh sorry about that hmmmm... what would you suggest?" his waiter got into a thinking posture

"Well...right now our special is seasoned wolf-kabobs, some nice travelers before you managed to get us quite a supply of it before they left." not sure what to really expect Naruto just went with it.

"That sounds good I'll take an order of that please." The women nodded and winked before walking off leaving a blushing Naruto sitting there laughing nervously to himself.

Sitting there looking around the restaurant Naruto noticed a man walk clumsily by before tripping and falling flat on his face right next to his table. Naruto just stared at the man on the ground before shrugging and going back to sipping his water. What he didn't expect however was for the man to lift Naruto out of his chair by the scruff of his jacket.

"Hey brat it isn't kind to trip people you know." Naruto just sighed inwardly at the sheer stupidity people showed some times

'Why is there always always someone who wants to pick a fight?'

"Look I didn't trip you this is just a..."

"Brat I may have to teach you some manners when talking to an adult." Naruto just gave up and sighed out loud. Looking at the mans features he looked as if he were a bum. He wore a raggedy black shirt with dark blue pants and shoes. The man had black hair that wasn't that long but still managed to look scruffy. On the man's arm Naruto saw a tattoo of a sword overlaying a Cog. Naruto decided to end this early and be done with it.

"Sorry but you asked for this."

"Oh that brat has a big mou..." Both hands that were holding Naruto up were knocked away as he hit both arms at the same time, then, not giving him time to recover proceeded to deliver an open hand strike to the bottom of the guys jaw. While literally shutting him up it also sent the man flying off his feet and onto his back. Naruto looked around and noticed people that were in the inn were staring at him approvingly none moving to stop him. Suddenly the waiter that got his order came out of the back with his order and noticed the body.

"Uhh miss what should I do with the trash?" he gestured to the guy at their feet, sighing the women just shook her head

"Just throw him outside, he should have known someone sooner or later would have enough of him."

"He's done this before?"

"He's been here for a while just causing trouble, though not enough to warrant the Night Watch's concern."picking up the body and flinging it over his shoulder Naruto walked over to the entrance and set the guy down outside the entrance before walking back into the inn to finish his meal. As Naruto walked back in to enjoy his meal the man managed to come back from being unconscious get up wobbly, rub his jaw, and made his way out of town and to the west.

Finishing his meal Naruto patted his full belly contently, the wolf meat had been a bit tough but not enough to make him stop eating it, in fact it vaguely reminded him of chicken in a wierd sense. Closing his eyes for a second the waiter came up and grabbed his plate along with his glass.

"So how was the meal hun?"

"It was very good, thank you." Naruto then began fishing through his bag of money until the waiter told him otherwise

"Commander says to give you room and board on the house so that's what were gonna do." Naruto smiled at the generosity before getting up and heading towards the stairs.

"I'll pay you back some how." the waiter turned around and shook her head before giving up

"Fine then, surprise us later on when you return." heading up the stairs and to his room Naruto got undressed flopped into bed and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

XXXX

After having woken up and said goodbye to all the main people he had met over the course of his stay Naruto was now on his way to back to Karazhan, that is until he came to a cross roads. On the one hand he could attempt to go through the encampment of Ogres guarding the entrance to Karazhan, or he could jump down the valley and walk down the river back to Karazhan that way.

' Ok so it's either fighting a whole tribe of Ogres, or it's going down into a deep dark valley...valley wins'

Judging the distance Naruto leapt off the stone bridge and landed on a ledge in the rock wall. Jumping down even further he landed on another one. Leaping to the opposite side of the valley he then started to run down the wall meanwhile getting closer and closer to the river. Leaping back across seeing another ledge he leaps and lands on it before jumping down and landing on the surface of the river.

Walking down the river and upwards past the ruins of houses Naruto walked right into the open just intending to go into Karazhan and train for the rest of his stay. Unfortunately fate decided to fuck with Naruto this day.

"Ah dere you are!" turning towards the voice Naruto sees an Ogre sitting in front of the entrance. It lumbered out of it's sitting position and ran up to Naruto

Fearing an attack Naruto got into an defensive position waiting for it to make it's move. That, oddly enough never came, as it skidded to a halt a few feet in front of him. Naruto didn't let his guard down though.

"What do you want?"

"You're da big boss now"

"Huh?"

"Since you beat Kolbine you da new big boss now."

"...Huh?"

"Ya, dey don't think you should be da big boss but you'll show them."

"...Huh?"

"Since you beat da last one and dat shows yous da strongest, now come on I'm gonna introduce ya to da rest so you can show dem yer da big boss." The ogre then began to walk up the path towards where the other ogres lived. He stood there for a few seconds just watching as the ogre walked away.

"Hey urry up!"

"I'm sorry but what? I'm still confused, what are you doing?" The ogre turned around and walked back to Naruto.

"Takin you back to da tribe so dey know you da boss now."

"Boss?" Naruto stared incredulously at the figure in front of him before clearing his throat

"Ummm ya I don't think that would work out too well."

"Why not boss?" Even though Naruto was trying to talk himself out of it he did like being called Boss, first from konohamaru and now a giant ogre. It made him wonder what it felt like to be called Hokage.

"Well as you can tell I'm not exactly the same species as you guys for one."

"Your not da same what?" Naruto smacked his forehead in frustration but calmed himself down.

"I'm not the same as you, I'm human."

"So?" Naruto was at a loss when he said that

"Isn't your...'tribe' lead by one of your own kind?" The ogre shook it's head

"Nah whoever is da strongest is the one who leads us." Naruto was still finding this hard to believe.

"So you've had a leader that was different from you?"

"No..."

"So what makes you think they would even let it happen now?"

"Well you are da strongest, everyone knows how Kolbine was beaten by a hummie danks to his guards tellin. Now you just gotta come in and say your da boss." Naruto was always tempted for a leadership position such as Hokage but this seemed wrong in so many ways on so many levels.

"What if I say no?"

"It would have bin interestin to see a humie tryin to be boss for once, but anudder would probably take Kolbine's place after a round of fightin." Naruto was about to tell him to do that but was disrupted before he could speak

"You live down dere in the tower right boss?"

"Ya...why?"

"Well if you don't become boss you will probably have a lot more of our tribe come to kill you now that you killed kolbine." thinking over the situation at hand Naruto weighed his options. On the one hand he could hole up in the tower and be just fine, not to mention the fact that he also had a huge undead dragon at his disposal, but having genocide on his conscience probably wouldn't do his mind any good.

"Yeah I still don't think that will work, even if I accepted I wouldn't be here enough to be considered a 'boss'."

"You don't have to worry about dat boss." Naruto raised an eyebrow

"Kolbine would leave at random and den show up again, as long as you come back some time you should be fine." Naruto was now running out of excuses

"I wouldn't even know what to do! Why are you insisting that I do this?!"

"Because you are the strongest boss, noone else here is stronger den you."

"Is that It? Just because I'm strong is why you want me to be your leader?"

"Ya...Isn't that how your kind does it?" Naruto was about to respond 'no' but then he suddenly thought about it. Come to think of it the Ogre was right, well for the ninja world anyway, the strongest ninja of the whole village was chosen to become the kage. Thinking about the situation made him sigh in frustration finally giving up.

"OK! ok...I'll go to your village and see if they would accept me...though if they don't then I'm off ok?" The ogre nodded seemingly not hearing his last remark.

"Sure thing boss, now lets go."

Following the ogre along the trail he took earlier it led through a mouth of the entrance. He was halted as two more ogres, presumably guards, made themselves known.

"Hey a hummie, what should we do with it?" the other ogre scratched its head in thought.

"How about we break it then eat it."

"There won't be no eating dis hummie, dis one is da one who beat da other boss." The first of the ogre guards scratched his head in thought coming to a realization.

"ahh yea I remember dat." the other guard hadn't caught on yet

"remember what?"

"Old Boss was beat by a humie. This must be him."

" Never heard of a hummie bein boss before dough." both of them weren't angry at the fact that a human was stronger than them, they were more surprised then anything.

"Dis hummie is special, I can feel it in my..." Naruto's escort started

"Feel it in your whut?"

"I don't know but I can feel it!" Naruto sweat dropped at his Ogre escort

"Whatever, just don't be expectin a warm welcome boss hummie." Naruto scoffed at that.

"Don't worry I'm not really expecting one." Walking past them Naruto looked around the small establishment and realized it was quite bigger then he thought it would be. He noticed several little huts along the cliff wall and there were even several higher up embedded in the wall. All around the little establishment were signs of the ogre's brutal nature. Corpses of several animals some looking roughly humanoid strewed in piles around the camp. It wasn't what you would call a quality establishment but it did have a rough 'ogreish' sense of organization to it.

Being led throught the small village eventually brought them to a tent that appeared to be for the 'boss' as they called it. The entrance was quite tall for Naruto but being built for an ogre that was twice his height may have contributed to that. Suddenly his escort began shouting out to the whole tribe.

"Attention ya gits! Dis is da new Boss!" everything around the camp suddenly looked as if it was frozen in time. All the ogre's present were looking at the ogre who brought him there and then they looked at him. Then as they looked at eachother all of them started to burst into uncontrollable laughter. Naruto kind of expected this but it still annoyed him none the less.

"A hummie being da big boss? You must be jokin!" one of the larger ogre's spoke up as he continued to laugh.

Naruto's escort would have none of it though.

"Hey he beat da other boss and dat shows that uhhhh." in a hushed tone he was soon whispering with Naruto

'Whats your name boss?'

'sigh it's Naruto'

"And dat shows dat Nawuto is da new boss!" Noone was laughing anymore but just looking on in mute shock waiting for something to happen. They did not have to wait for long.

One of the ogre's stepped forward in challenge to Naruto

"I'll kill the humie then I'll be the big boss." stepping forward he pulled out a big club which was not nearly as intimidating as Naruto's previous fight.

Turning to his escort Naruto began to talk to him.

"So what now?"

"Now you have to face Grugg dere and win, he challenged you after all."

"Do i have to kill him?"

"Nah you don't have to, but it usually sets da others straight real quick." Naruto nodded at that and walked towards the Grugg.

As they stood across from each other the other Ogres were now circling around them making a ring. When the ring finished forming Grugg dashed at Naruto swinging the club over his head wildly.

Attempting to do an overhead smash and slam Naruto into the ground like a nail the ogre ran forward. Side stepping, Naruto then went into the creature's guard and whip lashed like a rubber band punching the ogre in the gut. To Naruto it felt like he was punching a brick wall, however it did have an effect as the force of the blow had caused the ogre to bend into his punch, bile coming out of it's mouth.

Before Grugg could act however Naruto had already pulled his punch back and did a spinning heel kick, which caught the ogre dead center in the face.

The force behind the kick managed to actually lift the ogre off it's feet before landing on it's back. Holding back the urge to rub his now sore foot Naruto walked to the Ogre's side right next to his head.

"Do you yield?" The ogre stared at Naruto, confused at the terminology

" 'sigh' do you give up?"

Growling the ogre turned his head, nodded slightly, and shambled back to where he was before. The ogre that brought him there now had a weapon with him that looked familiar.

" Anyone else wanna challenge da boss?" Ogres looked at eachother but none seemed to want to face the puny human. A few seconds later the ogre spoke up again.

"Ok then Nawuto is da big boss now!" Letting out a roar soon all the others slowly joined in

Then the ogre approached Naruto holding out a weapon. It was just then that Naruto recognized it, it was the giant flail that the huge ogre had used against him before.

"Ok boss dis be yurs now." Naruto took one look at it and realized he couldn't use it. One it was designed, if you could call it that, for an ogre and not a human. In order to grasp it he would have to use both hands, and that wasn't good for Naruto. Two, a flail of that size wasn't suited for a ninja.

"No..."he pushed it back towards the ogre

"It's yours now." The ogre looked at him then the weapon in shock

"I can't take dis boss, dis belongs to you now." Naruto would have none of it though

"Consider it a gift...use it well." the ogre looked stunned, he then smiled and shook his head while looking at the weapon in wonder

"Will do boss."

After that all the ogres that had gathered went back to whatever they were doing, it was just Naruto and his ogre from before.

"So...now what happens, because I won't be around all the time."

"Where do ya go boss?"

"Well let's just say that it's very far away. Was another warlord appointed while Kolbine was away?" The ogre shook his head

"Nah, Kolbine would always came back and killed dem." Naruto didn't really want to have to fight someone every time he came back but it looked as if he had no choice...unless...

"Hey...whats your name?"

"I'm Gurunk boss."

"How would you like to be second in command?" Gurunk's eyes widened at that

"Whats dat boss?" Naruto then face planted before sighing

"uhhh... you would be my right hand man?" he wasn't sure if he would understand that either. Thankfully though it finally dawned on him.

"You would do dat boss?" Naruto nodded

"While I am gone you would be in charge." Gurunk was nodding his head profusely

"I'll do it boss."

"Ok well I have to go now but if you guys need anything then go to the big tower you saw earlier and knock on the door, a ghost should answer it. If you need anything just tell him and he'll relay it to me."

"Ok will do boss, now I'm gonna go make sure we got enuf foods to last us." Naruto nodded surprised at the ogre's wanting to help his tribe prosper

"Well now I'll leave it to you then Gurunk." Walking off Naruto then headed back to the tower to train for the remainder

XXXX

"You want me to what?" Berthold looked at Naruto as if he were crazy

"I know it sounds crazy but they made me their new leader or something like that and I don't want to have to deal with a whole tribe of ogres on my doorstep." Berthold sighed while rubbing his temples

"The Master sure knows how to pick his students, very well if one of them should come knocking I will relay a message when you return."

"Thank you Berth."

"Yes yes now go get on with your training." Running off Naruto headed to the Library created as many clones as he could and began his training/reading.

XXXX

It was about noon as Naruto was now back at the entrance of the stables waiting for the portal. The past three days had been interesting for Naruto as he had to balance training and helping Gurunk with the clan. With the many tasks that Gurunk had asked of him and his training in the tower Naruto never had much free time.

He was thinking over all that had happened when the portal appeared in front of him chaotic energies and all. Turning and waving goodbye Naruto stepped into the portal.

Feeling the same sensation as the last time Naruto journeyed through the cosmos until he finally reappeared in front of Medivh only slightly nauseated this time.

"So my boy how did it go?"

"It was awesome I got a lot stronger and I'm even a leader of the Ogres now!" Medivh raised one of his eyebrows at that

"You don't say. I thought you wanted to be Hokage?"

"Well I guess this will be some good experience, out of being the leader of a group of ogres or constantly fighting them I thought that being the leader would be the lesser of two evils." Medivh just shrugged at his student's reasoning

"Well did you go somewhere ?" From there Naruto went on with his story of how he went to Darkshire and saved the town along with the job he did for them.

"Well my boy it sounds like you were quite busy while you were there. I would go back to your village and rest for now, your hokage will probably be coronated soon."Suddenly remembering that Naruto cursed out loud

"I totally forgot about that! I better get going before the old lady smacks me senseless." Running out the door he made his way back to the village.

"It is almost time..." With that the door closed

XXXX

Bursting into the Hokage's office like he used to do with the Sandaime Naruto rushed in.

"Hey Bachaan did i ma..." He didn't get much further though as he was soon grabbed by the collar and hoisted into the air right in front of Tsunade now wearing a Hokage robe.

"Brat you know you missed a very important ceremony today, is there anything you have to say before I send you to the hospital?"

"Would it help any if I told you that I was trying to take over for you faster by training?"

"That's a sweet gesture but no." about to get waylayed Naruto was saved by a ninja bursting through the door Naruto had just come through.

"Hokage-sama we have bad news, Sasuke Uchiha has left the village!"

XXXX


	7. Chapter 7

XXXX

"Hokage-sama we have bad news, Sasuke Uchiha has left the village!" this news was enough for Tsunade to actually forget about Naruto and drop him back on his feet. Meanwhile Naruto was in a similar state of shock at that statement. He had remembered what Sasuke had said the first day they had met but he never thought that Sasuke would go this far.

"Who told you this information?"

"It was a Sakura Haruno ma'am." Naruto's eyes widened at hearing that Sakura already knew about it

"Bring Sakura Haruno here at once!"

"Yes Hokage-sama"

As the ninja left, Tsunade started to think on her options.

'Shit...why did he have to leave now...we don't a hunter team to spare at the moment and all the elite jonins are out on missions.' thinking about it for a second she glanced at Naruto before going back to her thoughts

"'sigh' I guess I have no other choice, and we need to act fast...Naruto! I need you to go get Shikamaru and tell him to report to my office ten minutes ago." Naruto got his own head clear before nodding and leaving, not saying a word.

Once out of the tower Naruto made around 2 dozen clones and they fanned out across the village in search of the lazy genius.

XXXX

Walking down one of the main streets of Konoha Shikamaru had just gotten done with lunch with Chojji and both were now heading in no particular direction just glad that all the trouble was over with.

"'sigh' well at least now that all the commotion is over we can relax a bit" Chouji looked at his friend before responding

"You know that since were ninja were probably gonna have to be called to help with the repairs soon..."

"Ya but before that I hope to get a good nap in..." before chouji could respond a blond blur appeared in front of the two of them nearly startling them. Shikamaru was the first to speak up

"Naruto what are you doing here?"

"The old lady needs you to report to her office now." Shikamaru sighed regretting not being able to nap

"What is it this time she already made me a chunin, what else is there?" hearing that pissed Naruto off but also made him wonder if he got promoted

"It's Sasuke...he's left the village." this got both of their attentions almost immediately

" 'sigh' and here I was thinking I could relax for a bit," shaking his head Shikamaru just accepted it " might as well head there quickly."

" I'll join you Shika, you may end up needing some help after you talk to her." Shikamaru nodded at Chouji in thanks then looked back towards Naruto.

" What about you?"

" Well obviously I'm going too, I have a feeling I know what she's planning anyway." Shikamaru looked slightly puzzled

"You have an idea of what's going on? Wow that's new."

"Hey don't make me whip your ass!" Shikamaru and Chouji laughed at Naruto and began jumping towards the tower

"Hurry up Naruto were gonna leave you behind!" Naruto just smirked

"Way ahead of you two." suddenly Naruto poofed into smoke and that left Choujii gaping for a second before realizing that it was a clone.

"Come on Chouji lets go and get this over with."

XXXX

" This may be on short notice but I am now assigning you three with an A-ranked mission, it is of the utmost importance." Shikamaru then raised his hand interrupting her

"Is it about Sasuke deserting the village?" Tsunade glanced at him while answering never taking her chin off her interlocked hands.

"Yes, due to the invasion we are dangerously low on manpower, and the manpower we do have are all already on missions to help bring in funds for the rebuilding effort." They all just stood there waiting for her to continue meanwhile digesting what she was telling them.

"So due to the extreme circumstances I am assigning you all on an A-ranked mission to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha and bring him back to the village at all costs. Shikamaru is going to be the squad leader, any questions?" Again Shikamaru was the first one to speak up.

"Will it only be the three of us?"

"The three of you and anyone that is available that you think would be of help."

"Whom of the Rookie 9 are in the village at the moment?" Tsunade shuffled around a few documents before giving an answer

"Right now the only ones that I see are available that aren't on missions are Nejii Hyuuga and Kiba Inuzuka."

"They're perfect, there is one more question though Hokage-sama."

"What is it Shikamaru?"

"What condition are we to bring him back in?" Everyone was slightly confused at his wording of the question until Naruto spoke up about everyone's confusion.

"What the hell are you talking about Shikamaru?"

"I'm talking about bringing him back dead or alive." he responded as if he was talking about the weather.

This surprised everyone in the room though if it surprised Tsunade she didn't show it with any facial expression that they could see. Before Naruto could call him an idiot and berate him though Tsunade cleared up any pressing issue.

"We need him alive Shikamaru, no matter how serious an offense this is we can't kill him...yet."

"I need you guys to head out immediately, you're dismissed." Quickly heading out of the tower Shikamaru turned his head to Naruto

"Naruto I need you to find and tell Kiba and Neji to meet us by the front gates, Hokage's orders." nodding Naruto made a couple dozen clones and sent them to various places in search of Kiba and Neji.

As Naruto, Chouji, and Shikamaru arrived at the gate they did not have to wait long for Neji and Kiba to show up though they did look a bit confused

"So why are we here Shikamaru what's up?" Neji just nodded, the same thing on his mind as well

"Well you two we have been assigned a mission to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha and bring him back to the village no matter the cost." This came as a surprise to the both of them but Neji didn't show it as much as Kiba did.

"What happened? Was he kidnapped?" Shikamaru shook his head

"If only...He abandoned the village and is now headed towards the border." Both looked even more surprised until Shikamaru spoke up again

"We are to bring him back to the village alive so we best get moving quickly if we are going to catch up to him." and with that they set off.

XXXX

Naruto was standing across the field from the guy that was in between in him and the box that contained Sasuke

"I'm guessing there isn't a way for you to hand over the box and we both can go?"

"I am afraid not, Lord Orochimaru wishes to possess Sasuke Uchiha and he shall have him."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Naruto rushed in and attempted a sweeping kick aimed at Kimimaro's head. Kimimaro leaned back out of range and counter attacked with an open handed thrust towards Naruto's face.

Shifting his head towards the left Naruto then attempted to move into Kimimaro's guard with a hit to his ribs only to be dodged again as Kimimaro side-stepped out of the way.

Back and forth Naruto and Kimimaro continued to trade blows with neither really getting the upper hand. If someone were to watch from afar it would seem that the two of them were dancing, Naruto always attempting to counter-attack while dodging, meanwhile Kimimaro just continued to dodge and try to get in a blow in whenever he could.

Seeing that his opponent was doing another open handed thrust towards his face Naruto tried something different this time, instead of dodging to the side like he usually did he leaned back just enough so he wouldn't lose his balance and could make a grab for his arm. Unfortunately it did not work out as he planned. As he was reacting to the thrust he looked into Kimimaro's eyes and knew immediately something was off. It only lasted a split second but it was enough for Naruto to make him start pulling his head back further. It wasn't enough to seriously hurt him but something spurted out of his opponents wrist and scratched his forehead along with knocking off his headband.

Naruto's instincts of self preservation kicked in further and he forced himself to jump back out of range of Kimimaro just as he was making a counter attack. And he did it just in time as he saw where his opponents hand would have impacted, this hand too had an sharp white almost bonelike fragment coming out of his wrist.

Bringing his hand up to his forehead Naruto did not feel the familiar weight of his headband, that and a bit of blood was there too. He knew it would heal anyway but he snarled nonetheless. Pulling out a kunai and flourishing it a bit he then created around two dozen clones which all rushed Kimimaro.

Drawing a bone shard out of his other hand as well, Kimimaro began to do a dance of death, literally and figuratively. The problem with Naruto's fighting style and using the Shadow clones was that with so many clones trying to attack one person, the maneuvering room required for this style becomes very cramped. So as Naruto's crowded trying to get a piece of Kimimaro he just continued to pop them like balloons. Forgetting subtlety as the last clone was popped Naruto rushed in and attempted a slash across Kimimaro's face with the kunai in his left hand.

Kimimaro dodged again by leaning back away from the kunai only this time Naruto decided to pull out one of his new tricks. Continuing his slash even though he missed Kimimaro didn't notice Naruto's other hand pull back like a puppeteers pulls strings. Naruto had not used this in actual combat and was not sure if he could do it effectively but his worries turned out to be unfounded as Kimimaro's upper body suddenly lunged back forward.

Surprised by his sudden involuntary spasm forward Kimimaro's eyes widened as he flew forward as Naruto's kunai hand came back around in a fast back handed stabbing motion. What he had hoped to turn out to be a fatal stab actually made a dull 'thunk!' against Kimimaro's chest.

It was now Naruto's turn for him to widen his eyes as he noticed that his kunai didn't even pierce an inch deep before stopping. Kimimaro looked down at Naruto with a bit of pity in his eyes but in his head he was still wondering what had happened to make him fall forward.

"As you can see I can also harden the bones insi..." Naruto wasted no time in taking advantage of his opponent explaining how his powers worked. He never did understand why alot of ninjas did that but that's beside the point.

Swinging his other hand forward into contact his chest Naruto did the quickest pressure spell he could muster. The pressure spell Naruto had learned was one of the more useful Naruto had seen at the times when he was looking through all of Medivh's books the only bad thing about it though was that in order for the spell to work the distance between his hand his target had to be a matter of inches or direct contact in order for it to work. And work it did, as when Naruto finally released his pressure spell a thunderous "Crack!" resonated across the open field.

Kimimaro was stunned speechless.

What just happened?

That was just one of the many questions that were going through the sole survivors head at the moment. Slowly glancing toward his chest where his bone armor was apparently present a large bowl like crater. It was as if his body finally realized it was injured and Kimimaro was forced to his knees.

Naruto looked at his results with awe and a bit of disgust. Before when he had faced the previous Ogre Chieftain and used that spell he had not really looked at the results of his spell, but this time he was up close so he was in full view of his devastation. Where Naruto had hovered his hand was now a crater that he could comfortably fit his hand in.

But now was not the time for marveling, he still had Sasuke to bring back. Turning back and walking towards the case that held Sasuke he was forced to cover his eyes as a sudden burst of foul energy emanated from the big case. It was getting thicker until finally the top flew off and slowly the figure of Sasuke made itself visible.

Before he could say anything however Sasuke jumped out of the crate and made his way into the forest, closer to the border.

"Kuso!" about to leap off in pursuit he was stopped by another release of energy which came from Kimimaro. Out of the wierd tattoo on his chest black lines started to sprout out of the tattoo and cover his body. Blood started to leak out the sides of his mouth like a faucet. With a sickening snap the bones that had been crushed were being dissolved while new ones took their place. Having a feeling this fight was about to get alot tougher he got into a fighting stance and prepared to use any ability he had, including the ones he was hiding. But before anything could happen a figure leapt between Naruto and Kimimaro.

The figure then turned and gave a smile which nearly blinded him with it's brightness.

"Bushy Brow?"

"Yes Naruto-kun it is I, but now is not the time for conversation, you must hurry and get Sasuke-kun!" debating for a second Naruto nodded to Lee in a appreciation and headed off following Sasuke's trail.

XXXX

Naruto was now on the statue across from Sasuke on the head of some Ninja he did not know, glaring.

"So are you gonna run off like the teme you are?" Sasuke stopped and turned around slowly revealing his face. Naruto grimaced as he saw that the side of his face had the same markings from his seal and that his eye was now yellow.

"So she sent you of all people...why am I not surprised." Naruto just continued to glare at him

"Oh it seems the dobe is upset." Naruto did his best to ignore the jab but Sasuke always had a way to get on his nerves

"I only have one question Sasuke...why?"

"Why?" Sasuke began to chuckle darkly

"I will no longer be held back from obtaining true power while all you others continue to play ninja, with Orochimaru's power I will be able to achieve my goal." He tilted his head to the side still smirking

"So I'll tell you what, just leave me alone and we won't have a problem." He turned around and started walking off towards his destiny when he heard footfalls behind him. Spinning around expecting an attack he was surprised to see Naruto a few feet from him just standing there.

"You think after all that we've been through, all that everyone has risked just to bring you back, that I'll allow you to leave? I'll bring you back even if I have to break your arms and legs..." Sasuke just chuckled more before lifting his hand gesturing

"If you are going to be so persistent." he formed his hand into a fist

"Then I'll just have to go through you." he attempted to catch Naruto in the gut only for Naruto's left hand to clamp down on his wrist while his right hand grabbed his elbow. Doing a one eighty spin he then tossed Sasuke across the valley towards the statue he previously occupied. Landing on his feet and skidding a bit Sasuke glared at Naruto when he suddenly felt the power from before draw back into the seal. Meanwhile Naruto had a small smirk on his face.

"I'm not the same as before either Sasuke."

With both of them done with words Naruto leapt off his respective side while Sasuke did the same thing, attempting to beat Naruto to the shot he went for a punch to the face. Naruto meanwhile still pissed from their earlier conversation backhanded the fist out of the way and brought his right hand around contorting it into a fist and felt it collide against Sasuke's left cheek. The impact sent the Uchiha flying towards the chest of the statue, while gravity started to kick in and he started to fall too.

Sasuke surprised with the amount of force behind the supposed dobe's punch flipped mid-air with his feet landing against the chest of the statue and pushed off flying towards Naruto again.

Seeing this Naruto created a clone that was positioned in front of him, using his legs he then pushed off it's back and went back towards his statue. Sasuke with his Sharingan activated now saw the clone coming and did a barrel roll avoiding it, though he didn't get much chance to relax yet as he saw the real Naruto bounce off his statue and come back for another pass. This time around as they collided in mid air both were sending blow upon blow against each other.

'This is impossible! There is no way the dobe is fast enough to not see fully ahead!'

And it was true, no matter what Sasuke saw Naruto do he just couldn't move as fast as him to intercept his blows. That and his fighting style was definitely not the same as he remembered.

Though truth be told Naruto never really had a style before other then a street brawler, and even then, street brawlers still had more form then Naruto. But now it was definitely not the case, every time Sasuke tried to strike a blow against Naruto he would always dodge while simultaneously attacking, or counter-striking in some way. Though not all blows got through enough got through to rough Sasuke up a bit.

All this happened in a matter of seconds as they both continued to fall towards the bottom. Sasuke finally managing to take the initiative after an attempted blow, he managed to push off of Naruto's body and stick to the cliff rock behind the waterfall, Naruto however just fell to the water below with a splash. Though he didn't stay down for long as he soon saw Naruto leap out of the water and skid across the surface getting a bit of distance.

Deciding to forgo taijutsu did the proper hand seals and soon the crackle of electricity was heard.

"Chidori!"

Seeing This Naruto held out his hand and channeled a Rasengan to counter Sasuke's Chidori

Although he was curious to what he thought that little ball could do he wasn't worried.

'Chidori is my ultimate technique, not like that little ball will do anything to it.'

Releasing his grip on the wall Sasuke fell towards the river only just before hitting the water he grabbed purchase on the rocks again and pushed off propelling himself towards Naruto.

Seeing Sasuke fall Naruto charged ahead in hopes of meeting him head on. As Sasuke and Naruto neared each other both reached out and their techniques collided. The collision of the two techniques caused a storm of water to spread everywhere except near them two. If someone were to look at it, it would look like Sasuke and Naruto were fighting in the eye of a storm.

Both Naruto and Sasuke were struggling to overpower the other with their respective techniques. Neither to seem to be gaining the advantage as Sasuke's Chidori continued to try and pierce Naruto's Rasengan. When both tried to push at each other at the same time the amount of force from the explosion they created was enough to send both of them flying back across the water.

Slowly getting up both of them glared at each other as they slowly got up. They just stood there glaring at each other until they both just sprang to action. Sprinting to action Naruto rushed at Sasuke darting from side to side until he got in range then went into a spinning butterfly kick. Sasuke, with his Sharingan active was not caught unaware ,was still surprised at the move that was just launched at him, dodged by pivoting out of the intended path of the kick. Counter attacking Sasuke went for a leg sweep just as Naruto landed only to see him do another one of those weird flip kicks, avoiding his sweep, and nailed him in the cheek, whipping back around hoping to avoid the next attack he wasn't able to see Naruto land and continue his spin sending an uppercut into Sasuke's Chin.

Sent flying into the air Sasuke tried to regain his senses only to suddenly feel a strong grip on his leg, he looked down to see Naruto had jumped up and grabbed onto his ankle.

'Why did he?...' he then saw that there were a chain of Naruto's leading out from the original, with the original hanging onto his clone's ankle. Sasuke didn't even have time to let the shock appear on his face before Naruto swung the chain of clones around in a 180 degree spin and the last one holding Sasuke let go of his ankle. With the cumulative force of all the clones going into that throw, Sasuke was sent skipping across the river like a stone being skipped across a pond until he finally settled on the water. Quickly getting back up he was just in time to meet Naruto's rush. Sasuke parried Naruto's punch and went for a straight shot to Naruto's nose. Naruto, seeing this, brought his left arm up and brunted Sasuke's arm to the side before bringing his right fist around for another shot, again pushing to the side Sasuke brought his right arm around in an attempt to clock Naruto in the side of the head. Turning his body to where his back was to Sasuke Naruto manage block the blow and elbow Sasuke in the gut with his right arm. Sasuke was given no respite however as half a second later Naruto delivered the back of his hand into Sasuke's face causing him to reel back. Finishing up Naruto took one step backwards, towards Sasuke and kicked him in the chest, sending him skidding onto his back a couple of feet, sinking into the river.

'No! I will not be humiliated like this! I am the last of the Uchiha Clan!' Unknown to Sasuke at the moment was the gaining of his third tomoe in his eyes.

Skyrocketing out of the water Sasuke began pushing Chakra to his feet. This made it look as if he were skating across the water.

Seeing Sasuke jump out of the water like that Naruto rushed in again to engage the Uchiha again.

Sasuke made the first move this time as he brought a right hook around only to be parried by Naruto as he moved to make his counterblow, this time however he was intercepted as Sasuke had continued his punch bringing his leg around in the process kicking Naruto in the gut. Grunting in pain Naruto growled as he tried to grab Sasuke's leg only to have it pulled back.

Sasuke and Naruto continued to trade punches, kicks, and counter-attacks with one or the other managing to get in an occasional blow, this time however it appeared to be quite even.

'What the hell just happened? How is he doing this!'

Attempting to tip the playing field Naruto brought out clones to help him in his endeavor. However, while he did have them do the occasional mob and attack he also had some doing less obvious work. As the other Naruto's continued to Mob Sasuke others stayed back waited for opportunities to strike and others were flying in from overhead. As Sasuke continued to destroy clone after clone he tried scanning around for the original.

'Where are you...' Sasuke didn't finish his sentence because now around his ankles were being grabbed from underwater.

'Kus...' he was suddenly hoisted higher and higher in the air as a continuous chain of Naruto's rose out of the water into the air whirling around like someone spinning a rope. This continued until the tower of Narutos slammed Sasuke onto the top of the cliff where debris and dust clouded his vision from the bottom of the tower.

Just as he thought that it could possibly be over he saw a blazing flame cut through the smoke.

"Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)

The flames quickly burned along every clone like a chain of firecrackers popping each one in succession until it finally hit the bottom of the chain throwing steam everywhere.

Sasuke now had his curse seal activated to the first level, slowly walking over to the edge of the cliff he looked towards the surface of the river below, as the smoke cleared he saw the figure of Naruto standing seemingly untouched.

Smirking a smirk only an Uchiha could smirk, Sasuke gathered a large amount of Chakra

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)

Sasuke expelled all of his stored up Chakra into this technique sending it towards Naruto. The Fireball was huge covering the distance between the two of them in quite a fast time. Naruto however did not move as the Fireball flew towards him.

Sent crashing into the water the fire caused a lot of steam to materialized, enough to cover the whole of the river quite easily. Waiting for the steam to clear, Sasuke was not ready for something to be sent flowing out of the steam and hit right next to him on the cliff. The impact of the unknown object went off like a cannon ball taking a large chunk of the cliff with it and throwing Sasuke almost over the edge of the cliff. Quickly surveying the destruction Sasuke was about to move when he saw another of the objects flying towards him.

Thinking quickly he quickly got up and jumped off the edge falling towards the river, just above him he felt the force of the explosion hit him and make him fall a bit faster before he got a grip on the wall with his feet. When he finally stopped he looked down and saw the steam had cleared to reveal Naruto there with two streams of water going into either hand and forming big globes of water.

Naruto was now beyond the point of hiding anything, taking his experimental way of controlling the water and taking the theory of compressing the chakra from Rasengan, Naruto had created one of his first ways of controlling the water. Finishing gathering up water Naruto then concentrated and saw it shrink to the size of a normal rasengan. Launching it at Sasuke he then immediately began making another one. As the ball was sent sailing towards it's target, Sasuke immediately began running down the cliff doing hand signs as he went.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Technique)

Running down the cliff Sasuke fired off several dozens of smaller fireballs all making their way towards Naruto. Spinning to the right Naruto threw another of his water balls before flipping out of the way of several fire balls, as he landed Naruto threw up both hands creating a temporary wall of water between him and a bunch of the fireballs. Letting it drop he did a 360 spin and quickly made two balls of water, launching them one after the other.

Avoiding the next two Sasuke finally reached the bottom of the cliff and began sprinting across the water towards Naruto making more handsigns, behind him debris from the canyon wall still continued to fall

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)

Another giant fireball was sent flying across the water as the Uchiha followed close behind it. Acting quickly Naruto condensed as much water as he could into his next attack before launching it side armed square at Sasuke's fireball. When the water ball collided with the fire ball, the water ball won out in the end going through the center of the fireball like hitting a bulls eye, but not before losing its shape and exploding like a shotgun, shooting blazing hot water in a forward cone. The explosion managed to knock Sasuke back while also giving him a couple of real nasty burns from the boiling water.

Grimacing and filled with anger Sasuke got up, with his curse seal still active and engaged Naruto in close combat, and with his curse seal active his speed had gone up even more, add in his Sharingan and Naruto was now having alot of trouble keeping up with the Uchiha. Now that Sasuke seemed to be faster than him AND could accurately predict his next move, though occasionally he did get lucky, it still was not enough against his suped up opponent.

Dodging a backhand by ducking Naruto spun and attempted to catch Sasuke in the head with a kick, only he didn't make contact with his head. Sasuke had grabbed his leg with both hands and was still smirking that overconfident smirk. Doing a three-sixty Sasuke then threw Naruto a ways away. Skidding across the water a bit Naruto leapt up into a backflip landing on his feet in time to see Sasuke finish the last seal. Getting annoyed with all the fire being thrown at him Naruto did what he did best, think on his feet. From what he remembered about controlling the human body, the human body must have at least some water in it. As he tried to sense whether there was water in the place he needed he was overjoyed to find that there was in fact. Not alot of it to work with efficiently but enough for what he had in mind.

Sasuke reared his head back and was just leaning forward to launch his fireball Naruto was timing his action. Moving his hands as if he were clapping together on a fly Naruto brought both hands together in a diagonal clap.

As Sasuke released the technique that would hopefully destroy his rival once and for all his mouth, involuntarily, clamped shut. And not the nice clamping down where you take a bite into a sandwich, no, this is the kind of clamping down where the phrase 'bone jarring' came from. With his mouth closed he also realized that he did not stop his technique from going. However with no escape for the flames there was only one place for them to go, his mouth.

As the flames scorched the inside of Sasuke's mouth he tried to open his mouth but found that he couldn't, the pain becoming excruciating he did his best to halt the chakra flow. However he did not halt it in time to stop from being damaged as the black charred hole in his face could attest to. After a few seconds he could open his mouth again, which he did with earnest, smoke pouring out. Reflexively putting his hand to his mouth Sasuke had to try hard not to scream. His trying to cope with pain however did not last long because right when he tried to look back at his enemy all he got was a palm to the face.

Sasuke knew it would hurt but he had no idea what he was in for. Instead of flying back a couple feet then landing on his ass he was sent across the lake like a frozen line drive, Sasuke kept flying until he collided with the base of the valley where the water met the rock. The force of the collision was enough to make a spider web of cracks appear around Sasuke, which extended quite a ways around him. Seeing spots Sasuke was again yanked by an invisible force, and sent flying towards Naruto, as he flew he saw Naruto appear to be winding up for a punch, tensing himself for the pain he was about to go through he closed his eyes.

As he finally came into contact with Naruto it wasn't his fist that he came into contact with, Naruto's leg was now implanted into Sasuke's gut forcing up whatever was left in his stomach and even some blood. Dropped into the water he was barely conscious. Still he tried to get up again.

Naruto was getting annoyed more so then usual.

'Why don't you just stay down!' trying to find out a way to knock Sasuke out once an for all...or at least imprison him until he could get him back to the village.

'Imprison...' that word gave him a flash of a memory where Zabuza had trapped Kakashi in a water prison.

'I have no clue how it is supposed to be done, but if Kakashi-sensei couldn't break out of it then it must be pretty strong.'

Controlling the water around Sasuke Naruto made the water crawl up Sasuke's body like a snake.

Feeling something wet on his legs Sasuke looked down and was shocked to see the water was trying to claim him. Clawing at the water didn't work as it seemed to just remold itself. Finally covering his head Sasuke gasped for breath only to be filled with water. When the water covered his whole body Naruto started to fill out the rest with a sphere of water so Sasuke wouldn't be able to move. However, like anything else in Naruto, nothing ever goes according to plan. As he tried to finish his prison it suddenly got harder to maintain the pressure he was exerting on Sasuke's body.

Sasuke was releasing energy from the seal and with nowhere to go the energy pushed outward against the water. While more and more energy continued to be released Naruto could see that Sasuke's body was changing as well, his hair was becoming longer and his skin was becoming darker along with his eyes. His body seemed to be spasming inside the water as two wing-like appendages managed to break through the back of the globe of water. It was finally too much for Naruto to maintain and exploded. The amount of force along with the amount of compressed water was enough to send Naruto on his ass before popping up again, however he was unprepared for the fist he got to the face.

Before in the first stage of the seal Naruto was almost able to keep up with the combination seal and Sharingan. But now that both his Sharingan and the seal were at the next level at the same time Naruto was not faring well at all. Naruto was now starting to take a serious beating from Sasuke in this form as Sasuke waylayed into Naruto.

Naruto, starting to feel the full brunt of the assault, was being pushed back hard until Sasuke sent him flying back with a punch to the face. By now Naruto was getting up slower then before and having a harder time reacting.

'Shit, my vision is going blurry.'

Seeing three different Sasuke's Naruto had no real way of dodging and was continuously hit over and over. Naruto tried a lame attempt at controlling Sasuke's body but wasn't fast enough as Sasuke rushed forward did a 360 spin and slammed Naruto with one of his new wings sending him flying back. Trying to get up again he was roughly grabbed by the throat.

"And with this my dream will become that much more a reality."

Looking at Sasuke's other hand he held what appeared to be a chirdori, only it was black, not the usual white color. Grabbing the arm that was holding him Naruto tried to break his grip, but his remaining strength was not enough as Sasuke just continued to hold him there.

Naruto watched and continued to try to get free but it was futile as Sasuke brought his technique around and jammed it through the center of Naruto's chest.

Naruto was shocked, not because of the pain but because of the lack of pain. He knew the technique had hit him because he could feel the impact of Sasuke's hand on his body. Slowly, almost scared, Naruto looked down towards where Sasuke's hand was.

Where Naruto expected to see part of his body he only saw a hole the size of a coconut where his chest should have been. The fact that he was able to see his own ribs did not help much either as he started to bleed profusely. Looking back up at Sasuke he was shocked to see that he was grinning one of those grins you see on a crazy serial killer. It was then that Naruto realized that Sasuke really would kill him just to get away and go to Orochimaru. It may have been from the shock of the wound or the fact he now knew how far Sasuke had fallen, but the end result was no mystery. Out of the wound a blood red chakra started to pour out and knit the flesh and organs back together. It was not only there that the chakra was coming out however. The chakra was now coming out every pore of his body covering him in a cloak of sorts.(Like when he faced Neji, not with the tail)

Sasuke shocked to see that Naruto was healing, dropped him quickly, and did hand signs as fast as he could. Naruto being dropped was not able to stand and so was on his knees with his head bent low. Sasuke managed to finish the hand signs and reared back taking a quick deep breath and letting it out at only a couple feet's distance away from his target.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)

Hoping to incinerate his foe Sasuke let his fireball out for a long time. As he finished and saw the steam begin to lift he saw the unmistakable form of Naruto now standing.

Starting to panic a bit Sasuke did the hand-signs for Chidori and ran towards the figure thrusting his technique towards the figure in the steam.

Only to be caught a foot away as a hand covered with red cloak of sorts materialized out of the steam and clamped down on Sasuke's wrist. Sasuke not comprehending the fact that Naruto was stopping him one handed continued to try to push against him only to feel as if he was pushing against a mountain, he didn't even budge an inch. Putting all his effort behind pushing his technique forward finally seemed to be the wake up call Naruto needed. His eyes quickly snapped open to reveal the blood red, slitted eyes that filled him with fear.

Quickly and efficiently Naruto brought his other hand up further up Sasuke's arm but below the elbow and struck. A 'crack!' was clearly heard as Sasuke tried to pull his arm back, though it only happened when Naruto let it go. Stumbling back, Sasuke was grimacing while holding his hand, looking at Naruto he leapt back out of range and did more hand signs.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)

Instead of just regular red flames, these flames burned with a white hot intensity that made them almost hard to look at.

Naruto looked at them as if they were just a nuisance before reeling back and letting out a roar that was enough not only to blast through the flames, but also to send Sasuke flying back across the water and out further onto the river.

Using his wings Sasuke managed to flip back and land on his feet, but the shockwave from Naruto's attack did not stop there, impacting the canyon wall on the other side of the river it managed to impact the wall with enough force to break large chunks off the canyon wall and into the water.

When Sasuke looked up Naruto was already on him and in the middle of an attack. Barely able to dodge it he attempted to counter but again he was forced to dodge as Naruto attempted to slash him across the chest. Being pushed back Sasuke was left no room to counter attack. It was basically the same fighting style as before, but this time around it was faster, wilder, and seemed to have actual claws and not just fingers. Also the chakra that Naruto was now using also appeared to be a second body of sorts as all the attacks Sasuke managed to dodge, he could still feel his skin burn with every near miss.

His dodging was becoming closer and closer to the wire until finally Naruto got his hit.

Lashing out and nailing Sasuke in the chest with a leopard fist from his right caused him to scream in pain as not only the impact from his fist hit but also his chakra began to burn Sasuke's body. Throwing his other fist deep into Sasuke's gut He forced the Uchiha to bend forward against his fist, if there was anything left in Sasuke's stomach it was gone by now. But Naruto was not done yet, no he had much more in mind for his 'friend'.

This part of the fight was like a dream to Naruto, not a usual dream but something very different, he would be fading in and out of a fight but when he was in the fight he could feel his blood boiling telling him to obliterate the thing that caused him pain, mainly Sasuke.

Landing an uppercut Sasuke's head was sent reeling back from the force of the blow, attempting to counter attack Sasuke did a three sixty spin into a kick that would hopefully hit Naruto in the head, unfortunately for him, Naruto did not care what he had to do to bring Sasuke back now.

Meeting Sasuke's ankle with his open handed strike Naruto did the appropriate spell and suddenly Sasuke's ankle was crushed. Not expecting that Sasuke roared in pain and was past using his fighting style and attempted to use his non broken hand to bludgeon in Naruto's face. This however was stopped as Naruto just simply grabbed his left hand with his right, moved in Sasuke's guard and hit Sasuke's forearm with an open handed strike.

'Snap!'

Sasuke was now close to passing out as his vision was starting to blur from the pain and being forced to stand on his one good leg while he tried to stay conscious and fight. Naruto just grinned at Sasuke's misfortune and watched for a few seconds as Sasuke tried to regain his senses.

Having fun and deciding to watch him suffer a bit more Naruto lashed out with his left leg hitting Sasuke's good ankle and breaking it.

This forced Sasuke to fall forward, but before he could fall and hit the water Naruto had grabbed his hair and hauled him up. Sasuke could feel his head burning from contact with the foreign chakra, but couldn't do anything about it. Looking up Sasuke glared at his rival with all the hate and disdain he could muster. Naruto held his other hand up and the one technique he had seen from before appeared. Sasuke watched as Naruto brought the technique around to finish him off, but then something happened.

It was as if he had been splashed with cold water and he realized what he was doing, if he hit Sasuke with this technique it would be payback but it would also kill him in the state he was in. Stopping the flow of chakra he just let his hand fall to his side.

"You know 'cough' you really are pathetic, you think that 'cough' she'll like you after this?" Naruto just remained silent

"You think she actually cares about you?" Naruto was tightening his grip on his head.

"When we talked before I left you know what she said?" Naruto wasn't sure he wanted to know but he might as well bite.

"What?..." he had to grind it out. Spitting blood at Naruto's face it was dissolved by the chakra before it could even touch him.

"She offered to abandon the village just so 'cough' she could be with me you dobe." Naruto's mind went blank for a second at hearing that, he tried to tell himself that it wasn't true but he doubted that Sasuke had any other purpose of doing it just besides hurting him. Hearing that he was now really tempted to kill Sasuke.

Dropping Sasuke onto his knees and bringing his left hand around, he lashed across Sasuke's face with his new claws.

Sasuke was sent into the water and started to sink. The seal on Sasuke was finally starting to recede and after a few seconds, Sasuke was finally back in his original state.

"I told you I would bring you back, even if I had to break your arms and legs...and I keep my promises."

It was this time that the foxes chakra also stopped taking effect. Dissapating all at once Naruto was now fully back in control. Though that didn't mean necesarrily a good thing. The injuries he had along with the exhaustion of the fight and being low on chakra kicked in with full force as he was suddenly very unbalanced.

With what chakra he had left Naruto made a quick clone which caught him. It then grabbed up Sasuke on his other shoulder and began heading back towards the village.

'All I have to do is stay conscious and we should be able to make it until we either hit other shinobi or back to the village.'

Doing it however proved to be easier said then done as they traversed across the treetops. With all his injuries and the rough nature of the trip, it proved to test his will to the limit as they got closer to Konoha.

They had traveled for a few minutes until Naruto's clone just poofed out of existence. This did little to improve Naruto's health as he was dropped from the treetops mid-jump towards the ground. What he expected was to feel the jarring impact of his body hitting the ground, however what he felt was himself being caught by someone, opening his eyes he looked up and saw a very familiar mask wearing shinobi before passing out.

XXXX

Tsunade was rushing towards the hospital as fast as she could because she had heard the news that Naruto been brought back along with Sasuke. Rushing through the hospital people were either running along side her to give her status reports on the retrieval members or rushing to get out of her way.

Barging her way into Naruto's room there were only two people in the room, one was performing what looked to be a examination while the other, a nurse, was making sure Naruto was comfortable.

"Status report, how is he doing?" The med ninja finished his examination before turning and looking at the hokage

"Well internally nothing is wrong but from this scar," he pointed at the center of his chest "We can assume that he was hit with some sort of technique and then healed." Tsunade nodded looking pleased that the fox was actually doing something productive while in there. But then she noticed a scar that looked as if it had faded a bit.

"What is that?"

"Honestly ma'm we don't know, it's not from the fight that we do know. It seems he got that before all of this happened as the scar has healed a bit, though I doubt that it will permanently disappear." Looking at the scar it seemed that something had bitten Naruto. Though there were animals in the forest of death she doubted that they could do this level of damage to leave a permanent scar.

'In a fight with someone with a bloodline? Maybe during the chunin exams?' neither explanation seemed to fit, but it didn't matter at the moment

"Anything else major with Uzumaki?" The doctor shrugged

"Other then alot of bruises and a couple of burns he should be fine with rest, now however I believe that I will have to go help the other team with the Uchiha." This got her curiosity

"What condition is he in?"

"From what I've heard ma'm it isn't pretty but I guess we'll both be able to see now." Leaving the room and giving Naruto one last glance they both went next door into Sasuke's room.

Unlike Naruto's room however there was an entire team in there working on him trying to fix him up.

Maneuvering through all the nurses and medics Tsunade got a good look at Sasuke's body. Her eyes widening at the level of damage, she went to work leading the way on his injuries. Sasuke's left arm was broken, again, close to where Itachi had broken it before. His right arm was in the same general area as it too was broken and dislocated. His right leg seemed to have been hit with a great force from the side and broken below the knee. His left leg however left her worried, puzzled, and a bit scared at the same time. It wasn't that it was crushed that worried her, hell she could rip someone if half if she wanted, it was the way it was crushed that worried her.

An area about the size of her hand on his ankle was crushed to the thickness of one of Jiraiya's books. What also worried her were the marks across his face, scratch marks from claws.

She had read the report on Naruto's first time using the foxes energy and that he had to use it against Sasuke could have been a reason for why he was so damaged. Moving to his leg she began to work, If she could fix up Rock Lee's arm and leg and make him walk again there was no reason she couldn't do the same thing for Sasuke.

...

Sometimes she hated her Hippocratic Oath.

XXXX

Naruto's eyes fluttered open as he tried to recognize where he was at when he realized he was in a hospital. Nowhere else is Konoha was this white or had that certain hospital smell. Slowly sitting up Naruto felt a very painful twinge in his chest, looking down Naruto saw that he had been bandaged where Sasuke had hit him with the Chidori.

'Speaking of Sasuke I should go see how he's doing.' ignoring the pain coming from his chest Naruto slowly got up threw his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up slowly. While a bit shaky Naruto made his way to the door only to be stopped by a color out of the corner of his eye. Looking back towards his bed he saw that next to his bed someone had left him something.

'Flowers?' Naruto had been to the hospital a few times before and he was usually only visited by his close friends, he had however never been left flowers. Smiling softly Naruto walked out the door and walked down the hallway until he ran into a nurse.

"Uzumaki you should not be out of bed yet!"

"I need to see the others, where are they?" the nurse sighed before pointing back where he came

"Sasuke is in the room next door to you, but I'm afraid you can't see the others since they are in different wings." Naruto walked towards Sasuke's room and prepared to open the door

"You better get back to bed after you see him you hear me?"

"Ya ya I hear ya." slowly opening the door Naruto peeked his head in the door. In the bed was Sasuke, bandaged all over his body, while next to his bed Sakura was just sitting there holding his hand looking worried.

This hurt Naruto more then he thought it would but he was always an expert at hiding what he really felt so he just put on a face and slowly walked in, still feeling the pain in his chest from the Chidori. Sakura turned and looked quite surprised that he was there.

"Naruto what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be resting?" he ignored the question

"How is Sasuke doing?" Hearing about Sasuke seemed to banish all worry about him from her

"Well thanks too Tsunade-sama he will be able to walk again." Naruto just shrugged

"That's good..." though he said that he really didn't care.

Looking at Sakura was enough to think back to what Sasuke said. She had long since stopped looking at him and was now watching over Sasuke like a doting...girlfriend. Sighing Naruto went back towards the door and opened it only for Sakura's voice to stop him.

"Naruto...Thank you...thank you for bringing him home where he belongs." Sakura then smiled at him

He normally would be thinking about how pretty she was when she smiled, but right now he didn't even wanna look at her. He just sighed, turned, and continued walking out the door.

"Yea, yea..." As he closed the door Sakura was confused as to why Naruto was distressed but soon returned to watching over Sasuke.

Walking next door he went into his room and fell onto his bed closing his eyes as his head hit the pillow.

"Trouble with the ladies?"

"Not exactly" shrugging out an answer

Looking up Naruto looked towards the voice and saw the last person he expected to be standing there.

"Bird Man?"

"It is good to see you Naruto but I recommend you lay back down for this conversation will take a bit." adjusting his pillow so he was able to lean his back against it Naruto then waited for Medivh to continue.

"It seems that your mission was successful." Naruto, still not knowing how Medivh got his information, nodded

"Yea we managed to get Sasuke back, though I'm not sure what happened the rest of the team yet."

"And what of that conversation next door earlier."

"You heard that did ya?" Naruto lowered his head a bit.

"I must say I know quite more than you think." Naruto needed to talk to someone about this and he figured Medivh was as good a person as any

"I said that I would bring Sasuke back and I do, but I realized that she thinks more of him than me even with him deserting the village." Medivh nodded

"Naruto, I'm guessing you like this girl?" Naruto shrugged

"I used too, I thought she was pretty back in the academy..." Naruto just sat there for a second remembering back to those simpler times

"I thought that...she was like me..." Medivh gave Naruto an understanding nod

"It's just when I realized that after all I have done for her she still likes him...Even after what he tried to do...I just wanted him out of the picture altogether..."

"Believe me Naruto, there have been moments where even I have wanted to turn some people into toads and then squash them until they were nothing but mush." Naruto laughed a bit at hearing that

"Women are one of the, if not the most, mysterious creatures that have been created, many men before you have tried to understand them without success." Not really sure what to think of Sakura at this point Naruto just sat there staring blankly into space.

"So what are you doing here Bird Man? I'm guessing you didn't just come here to check up on me." Medivh laughed a soft laugh

"What can't a master come see his apprentice after a mission accomplished?" Naruto just continued to stare at Medivh waiting for the real reason

"I'm actually here to give you a gift that may find you closer to your goal then you realize." Naruto perked up a bit at hearing that

"What do you mean?"

"You said before that you wanted to be the strongest ninja in your village correct?

"Yea."

"Well with this gift it should make you much more powerful." If Naruto wasn't tired or injured both physically and emotionally he would be leaping for joy

"Well what is it?" Medivh just shook his head

"Not here boy we have to go somewhere a bit more secluded." getting the hint Naruto got up and walked over to Medivh

"How are we going to get there? I'm guessing that we won't be walking." in response Medivh just held out his hand

"No, we are going to do a much faster and more inconspicuous way, take my hand Naruto." grabbing his hand Naruto suddenly felt the vertigo he knew from when he teleported before they disappeared in a flash.

A couple of rooftops over looking through a spy glass Jiraiya smiled

"Well well it seems we have finally seen this illusive bird man."

Dropping out into the cave Naruto was a bit light headed but otherwise fine. But now instead of being just a domed room in the middle of a mountain it had what seemed to be seals that stretched out from the center of the room to the walls. Naruto had a familiar understanding of seals such as the one you seal objects in scrolls, but this was on an entirely different level. Complex configurations of figures spanned the entire room saying who knew what.

"So...What is this present anyway?." Medivh started walking towards the center of the room while Naruto followed

"When I explained what the guardian was and what they do, did you ever wonder how they could be so powerful as to combat the threat of demons all over the world?"

"A bit but I wasn't really trying to understand at the time."

"Well the source of a lot of the guardians power came from a group called the Council of Trisifal, this group was the chooser of the guardian. When they choose a guardian they empowered the guardian through a ritual which increases their already exponential power to unheard of levels. Although there were drawbacks, each of the council who empowered the guardian lost a portion of their power as a result." continuing to listen Naruto scratched the back of his head

"The last person to become guardian was a woman by the name of Aegwynn...my mother." hearing that Medivh's mother had been a guardian like him was by no means a shock but it was enlightening

"So after she was done being a guardian they nominated you as a guardian?" Medivh shook his head laughing

"No they didn't in fact."

"So how did you become the guardian then?"

"My mother, determining that the current Guardian should be the one to choose the next one, decided that I should be the guardian after her."

"Why did she think that?"

"From what I've heard and read, the Council had grown corrupt and they lost their sense of purpose. My mother decided not to be a pawn in their game and instead went about doing her job like a proper guardian, though this did not bode well with the council much of the time."

"So if this Aegwynn was your mother, who was your father?" Medivh shook his head

"That, Naruto, is a story for another time. For now let's get back on topic." Nodding Naruto had one other question

"Didn't you say that the ritual required a bunch of other people to do it though?"

"Yes but that was when they were empowering the guardian, this would be more of a transfer, while not nearly as complex still takes a while." Naruto soon put two and two together and his eyes widened

"So you want to..."

"Yes Naruto, I want to give you the power of the Guardian." Instead of feeling excited at the prospect of being alot more powerful he was just confused

"And here I thought you would be jumping for boy my dear boy."

"I'm sorry, I am excited, I just have one question."

"What is that Naruto?"

"Why?" though this wasn't the question he expected but he continued the conversation anyway

"Why what?"

"Why give me this power?..."

"Didn't you say that Guardians go around your world and destroy demons, How am I supposed to do that? I've never even encountered a demon!"

"What do you expect me to do!" Naruto was now breathing quite heavily

Medivh just calmly stood there waiting for Naruto to catch his breath.

"Naruto...I do not know what you are expected to do with this power." Naruto was about to question him again but was stopped

"I just want you to use this power for whatever purpose you see fit" Naruto was even more confused

"Throughout your life you have been shunned and despised by those you wish to protect, you could have given in at any time but no, you continued, persevered, got stronger."

"No matter who you are talking to or fighting you always try to see the good within people, there are creatures far older then you who have given in and have become the thing which they fought against. During the fight with your teammate you could have just killed him and your mission would have been complete." Again astounded by Medivh's information he listened on.

"But instead of killing him you brought him back alive, a little battered but back none the less, fulfilling your promise. You gave your teammate a chance for redemption. I myself have had that chance, not a chance many say they get. Whether he takes that opportunity is his choice but you gave him that opportunity.

"You would willingly put yourself at risk just to save strangers you didn't know, which you already have done by the way. So you are the ideal person to become guardian, and I would be honored if you accepted." Naruto was not sure what to say to that, being told that you were about to be given power beyond your imagining and why he was chosen to be the guardian left him speechless.

'What the hell am i supposed to do?' thinking on it a bit more did not help at all. For the life of him he could not see the purpose behind Medivh giving this to him. He was a ninja after all he would have to go on missions, it wasn't like he could be the guardian of Medivh's world.

...

'Screw it.' screwing all logic Naruto just decided to wing it and see what happened

"'sigh' Medivh I accept your gift." Medivh rose out of his bow

"Excellent my boy you will not regret your decision, now we should begin right away this could take a while. Oh and after this I am going to send you to Karazhan for another part of your gift." Naruto was excited at hearing that

"What is it?"

"haha patience my boy it will be there for a long while. Now I need you to stand at the center of the room so we can begin." Moving to the center of the room Naruto stood there while Medivh got to his position inside a circle drawn along with the seal on the ground.

"Will this hurt?" Medivh nodded

"It will definitely feel unpleasant at first. Now lets begin." Closing his eyes and holding his staff with both hands Medivh began chanting in a language Naruto didn't understand.

Then all at once Medivh started to glow a bright golden color, but this glow didn't stay on him instead it started flowing out of him along the seals on the ground until the golden glow encompassed the whole room. After that the glow moved in towards Naruto then began to climb up him in lines that seemed to be at completely random across his body but obviously served some kind of purpose. They kept encompassing his body until they got to his face then went into his eyes and mouth. Foreign energy was now making it's way into his body. The feeling Naruto was feeling right now could only be described as being unique. He wasn't quite in pain or feeling good, it was a myriad of feelings as he felt the energy continue it's trek.

'So far so good.' The ritual was going well and the boy's body was accepting the power readily, it was as if the boy was a vacuum absorbing all the energy Medivh was giving him. The power of the guardian was now beginning to affect the boy's body physically and this part was where it got a bit tricky from what the ritual entailed.

XXXX

Waking up, a sleeping fox look outside of it's cage to find a golden glow working it's way through it's host's body influencing it in quite a few interesting ways.

"Well, this is quite the opportunity now isn't it." The fox then forced some of his energy out of the seal

XXXX

Meanwhile Medivh was still having a bit of difficulty with making the boy's body adjust when he suddenly felt a dark malevolent energy from within the boy.

'Why now does the fox have to intervene?' he was about to counter the foxes energy when he felt what it was doing.

'It is...helping me?' It was in fact, as the foxes energy helped the power from Medivh go smoothly through the boy's body, not only that but it was also improving some areas physically on the boys body which Medivh hadn't done.

'It's using this ritual as a way to influence the rest of the boy's body. But I can't do anything or else the backlash could kill us both.' Letting the fox do it's thing Medivh just continued to do the ritual while the foxes chakra continued to interwine with his. It was also going alot faster then it should thanks to the help of the Fox. Instead of a couple of hours to do all of it, it would only take about an hour to finish.

'I've got to get this right.'

XXXX

"What do you mean you don't know where he went?" A nurse was now cowering as she was being yelled at by a very angry Hokage

"I-I told him that he should go back to his room after he visited Sasuke and he said he would so I assumed that he did go back." still cowering Tsunade sighed waved her off and went back to Naruto's room looking for any hint of escape but nope she found nothing.

Rubbing her forehead in frustration she then heard the voice of someone she didn't care to see at the moment.

"Hey Tsunade! ho..."

"I'm not in the mood Jiraiya Naruto's gone and he should be resting." Jiraiya just smiled

"Oh I wouldn't worry he should be back soon." Tsunade gave him a hard look

"You know something don't you?..." Jiraiya just playfully avoided the subject

"Maaaybe..." Tsunade sighed again and gave in

"Fine we'll talk about it later over sake, I've got to get back to the other members of the retrieval team anyway." Giving the victory sign Jiraiya was about to leave when he felt a pulse. He wasn't sure what it was but it was definitely powerful. Looking at Tsunade he saw that she felt it too.

"Any ideas?" he shook his head

"Nothing, never felt anything like that before..." Tsunade was now gritting out the next words

"Find Naruto and bring him back now!"

XXXX

Medivh was now sweating from the task of doing the ritual correctly.

'Almost done...' The glow then started to recede from Medivh's body until he was back to normal again, as the last of the glow entered Naruto his body was now glowing a reddish gold glow.

As the glow grew suddenly an explosion of energy nearly blasted Medivh off his feet, but an instinctual use of the rooting spell was enough to keep him up.

After the explosion Naruto was swaying a bit.

He felt only one word was enough to describe him and it was...powerful.

Naruto had never been an egomaniac...well maybe a little bit, but that was beside the point, slowly moving, Naruto experimented with movement. It was a new sensation to say the least, he could feel his power in the air around him, it was as if he were flooding the room with his energy and it was still trying to find it's way out of the room there was so much.

He waved his hand a bit and a crackle resounded in the air, trying one of his techniques Naruto attempted to pull water from the air, before it had been a ball about the size of an apple, but now it was growing far beyond that and all around him little goblets of water started to form just out of water in the air and hover around the whole room. Water continued to glob together all around him and Medivh until he released it. Still stunned at how he felt he scratched the back of his head, only to pull back when he felt his nails pierce the skin. Pulling his hand up he saw that his finger nails were more claw like. Not totally claw-like, however sharp enough to slice through quite a bit if he tried.

Licking his lips he also noticed that his canines were a bit longer too, long enough to give kiba a run for his money.

"It seems that the ritual was a success, how do you feel?" Naruto was still in awe all he could say was

"Whoa..."

"Haha it seems that you can feel the effects" Naruto was looking like a kid with a new toy

"Though not all of them necessarily were by me." This stopped Naruto

"What do you mean?"

"The Fox within you has used my ritual to gain access to some parts of your body and 'adjust' them." This was starting to sound bad

"He isn't going to take control somehow is he?" Medivh shook his head

"He shouldn't be able to as long as that seal." he pointed to Naruto's naval "Remains intact, you've been able to access the Demon's chakra before haven't you?" Thinking back to his other fights Naruto nodded

"Ya so the fox basically messed with my body like with the teeth and the nails?"

"I didn't say this was bad however, the power of the guardian doesn't affect the physical part of the body as much as the spiritual/magical side, the fox improved your body in a lot of ways, physical strength, speed, and reflexes for example." Naruto was now relieved that he couldn't be taken over but one thing still bugged him

"Why would the fox do this?"

"I'm not sure at the moment Naruto, maybe you should ask him hahaha." Naruto laughed along too but he did keep that thought in mind for if he ever was in his mind again. Now that the ritual was done Naruto remembered what Medivh had said earlier.

"Oh and what do I have to go back to Karazhan for?" Medivh made a tsking sound.

"I can't spoil the surprise can I haha, All I can say is have Berthold take you to top of the tower and he should know what is going on from there, now here." Medivh held out his hand and a portal appeared behind him

"Is there anyway way I can learn to do that?" Medivh instead of telling him something put his hand against Naruto's head for a second. When he took it away Naruto had a sense of familiarity he did not have before with the library, he knew where a bunch of different topic books were including the one he was interested in was.

"Thanks Bird-man...for everything." Naruto spontaneously hugged him. Medivh a bit uncomfortable just gently patted the boy's back. Naruto then got out of the hug and went through the portal.

XXXX

Back in Karazhan Naruto was now in the entryway to Karazhan, walking forward Naruto waited for Berthold to show himself.

"Ah young one so good to see you again so what are you here for this time?"

"Medivh said that he was going to give me a gift, the first part he did but he said I need to come here for the next part."

"What is this next part?" Naruto shrugged

"I am not sure...Oh yea Bird-man told me to tell you to take me to the top of the tower." Berthold's eyes widened a bit before looking hopeful

"Are you sure that's exactly what he said boy?" Naruto was a bit taken back

"Uh, yea why?" Berthold, without saying anything else Berthold started to make his way through the opening and up into the tower. Left no other choice Naruto followed him. Higher and higher they went until finally Berthold held open the last door and Naruto walked through. The very top of Karazhan was nothing special compared to the rest of the tower, a circular platform made of stone circling outward until the edge.

"So what are we doing here?"

"Here young master is where we begin the final ritual."

"What final ritual?"

"The Master gave you his power did he not?" Naruto nodded

"Now this is another gift he is giving you." he gestured to the floor where a rock was sitting

"He's giving me a rock?" Berthold was nearly overcome with an impulse to facevault for some odd reason

"What is under the rock young master?"

'well the floor and the rest...wait' it just clicked in Naruto's head

"He's giving me his home?"

"Yes young one this is the final step, though this will also be goodbye."

"Ok...wait what?"

"Yes, goodbye, as soon as you take ownership of Karazhan I shall disappear." Naruto and Berthold hadn't necessarily been close but he was still a friend in Naruto's eyes

"Isn't there a way for you to stay?" Berthold chuckled at the boy

"Did I say I want to stay any longer?"

"Well no but..."

"You assumed that me being a ghost I would want to be alive forever, however I do not want that."

"Why?"

"Well young master, I am tired..." Berthold actually sighed

"Being a ghost is not all it is cracked up to be...do you know the reason I am ghost in the first place?" Naruto shook his head

"Well it was because of the Master actually."

"Wait Bird-man did this to you?"

"No young master...well not intentionally, me being a ghost and the state of Deadwind pass are due to the death of my master." Naruto nodded but then stopped

"Bird Man has died?" Berthold waved it off though

"He'll probably tell you the tale sooner or later but now back on topic. My master was one of, if not the most powerful of mortals to ever wield magic, due to a many number of reasons which he no doubt explained to you...the death of the master left a curse on this valley, surely you've seen how gloomy and grim this valley looks." Looking over the edge it did look kind of jagged and gnarly deathly looking.

"However this is about to change, with what's about to happen it will become something much different."

"What do you mean?" Berthold just smirked

"I can't tell you something even I don't know now can I, all the master told me was when he told me it was time was to bring you up here and to tell you to stand in the center then events would move from there and I would finally be able to rest."

Moving to the center of the top Naruto tensed up and waited for something to happen.

One second...Five seconds...Ten seconds passed and nothing.

"Hey Berthold I think..." He was cut off as the towers center platform sank an inch into the roof. As he looked down to see what happened his body started to feel as if it were being drained of his energy, trying to move away or stop his energy from leaving proved pointless as a barrier sprung up and kept him in place. As he got weaker and weaker it seemed to be draining him enough to start having a physical affect on his body.

'Dammit..can't..move' trying as hard as he could Naruto tried to move but still proved fruitless. As soon as it seemed he would lose conciousness it suddenly stopped. Regaining his feet Naruto was about to try and bust the barrier when he felt himself lifted into the air and release the last of his energy.

A word to describe what happened next could be described as breath taking...though that still did not do it credit. From the top of the tower a dark blue beam of energy shot into the sky. Spearing through the clouds and hurtling further into the sky, a ray of sunshine was able to pass through the clouds and illuminate the top of the tower.

Across the world of Azeroth, various users of magic suddenly felt a powerful pulse of energy rift across the world.

The pillar continued to shoot for a couple dozen more seconds until there was a buildup at the base of the top tower. The ball of energy at the top of the tower suddenly quivered for a second before exploding outward. However unlike a normal explosion where it would explode within a certan distance and stop, this explosion continued to expand and engulf the tower. As it expanded it acted as a cleansing flame and seemed to flow across the valley seemingly cleansing some kind of taint in the air and in the earth. Up in the sky the energy expanded as well and began to burn away the clouds that had, until then, covered Deadwind pass.

For the first time in a long while the sun was now shining in deadwind pass.

XXXX


	8. Chapter 8

Groaning Naruto was trying to fall back asleep but he couldn't, the stupid sun was now keeping him awake.

'Wait a minute, the sun?' opening his eyes Naruto had to close them almost immediately as he was nearly blinded by the bright light.

Putting his hand up Naruto managed to block out some of the sun and open his eyes.

"Hey Berthold what happ..." suddenly remembering what Berthold had said before he looked around the top of the tower to see if he was still there. But nope no matter how hard he squinted he could not find him anywhere.

"It looks like he wasn't kidding. Well rest in piece anyway my friend."

Looking up into the sky Naruto saw that not a cloud was in the sky and that it was as a very beautiful blue. Getting up Naruto looked out over the canyon and discovered that all the dead tree's and shrubbery he could see from before were no longer there, they seemed to have been completely destroyed leaving nothing behind. Looking around the pass a bit more Naruto saw that all the ogres were looking around them sometimes pointing at something different from before. Most of them however were covering their eyes trying to block out the sun like he had. About to look around some more one of the ogres pointed at him and yelled.

"It's da boss!" Naruto saw that the one who yelled was in fact Gurunk. As he yelled that he was now pushing his way through the crowd of ogre's towards the entrance of the tower. Seeing him head toward the entrance Naruto made his way through the tower towards the entrance but as he passed the library he paused.

"Hmmm might as well learn something while I'm here." doing the correct handsign Naruto had planned to make close to a hundred clones and send them in half of them learning from the books while the other half practiced the techniques. Only for his one hundred clones to turn into many times that number, which left Naruto perplexed for a minute before he grinned and sent them in anyway and walked towards the entrance.

As Naruto went through the tower he couldn't help but notice that something was different. Well not really notice, more sensing. Before when he had been in the tower there had been a dark aura of sorts that had surrounded the tower. As he walked through this time however he felt as if the tower was a much livelier place than before. Everywhere seemed to have a brighter glow to it and looked all around friendlier than before.

Starting to hear a pounding sound coming from the door Naruto quickened his pace a bit until he finally reached the door. Opening it up Naruto had to side-step a bit as the chunky fist nearly smacked him in the head.

"Oh sorry Boss." Scratching the back of his head cautiously Naruto gave a nervous smile

"No problem Gurunk." Gurunk then pointed to the sky

"Hey Boss what happened to da sky?" Naruto thought of a way to explain it

"Uhh...How to explain this...well...to be honest Gurunk I'm not sure why the sky is clear now...I know it has to do with Magic though!."

"Oh..." Gurunk just seemed to take it at face value since it didn't seemingly affect much of their daily lives from the way he saw it.

"Boss why is you wearing that?" Naruto was confused for a second but then looked down and realized he was still wearing his hospital gown from before.

"Uhhh no reason, so anything happen while I was gone?" Naruto tried to change the subject

"Uh not really boss, a few tried to become da boss but I beat dem good for ya." Gurunk seemed to be beaming and Naruto didn't really know if that was a good thing but he just smiled and nodded

"That's good Gurunk, so do you guys need anything?" Gurunk shook his head

"Not really boss we is doin fine right now but some of da boys are itchin for a fight." Naruto knew that would be a problem in the future but he saw no solution at the moment.

"Hmm If I find a fight you will be the first to know." nodding Gurunk just continued to stand there and stare at Naruto. Getting bored real quick Naruto broke the ice.

"Is there anything else Gurunk?"

"Not roight now boss, see ya later." walking back towards the camp Naruto saw that Gurunk was explaining to the other ogres what had happened and they were doing a big group "Ohhhh" before heading back to do whatever they do.

Walking out the door Naruto decided to look around a bit while he waited for the portal to reappear. Walking around the tower and the old town that was around tower Naruto noticed that, different from before, there was now plant life around the tower. Well not plant life so to speak such as a flower, bush, or tree; but grass. Going over to the side of the tower he saw that there was a ring of grass around the tower no matter how far around he went. Kneeling next to the wall of the tower he put his hand down and rubbed the grass surprised at how soft it was, but as he rubbed it something happened. After he rubbed the grass and tried to pull off it seemed to grow even more where his hand had been. Surprised at that Naruto closely looked at his hand then back at the ground. Slowly putting his hand on a part of the ground that hadn't been affected by the growth of grass he kept it there for a bit.

Slowly pulling his hand away Naruto saw that as he pulled his hand away a small patch of grass not even the size of his finger barely half an inch high was there. Surprised again Naruto tried something different. Putting his hand to the dirt Naruto then pushed chakra through his hand into the ground, waiting for a few seconds Naruto held his hand then pulled his hand off all at once. As he did grass grew around him in quite a big circle that was about 3 feet in diameter. Standing up and looking at his work the gears in his head started to turn and he smiled thinking of the possibilities of where this could lead.

Before he could think any more he suddenly felt a flash of thought as one of his clones dispelled and he knew now that the portal was up and waiting. Walking back to the entrance Naruto looked around one last time before walking back through the door closing it and heading into the tower. Not walking far in, Naruto saw the portal and walked towards it, only stopping for a couple of seconds to take a deep breath.

Walking into the portal Naruto felt the vertigo and suddenly he was back in the mountain room with Medivh. Medivh just stood there stoically like he usually did with a smile on his face.

"So my boy how do you like your present?" while he asked he never lost the smile on his face

"Well I can safely say it beats my current home by a lot." both Naruto and Medivh laughed but suddenly Medivh got a pensive look on his face.

"Oh Naruto I've been meaning to ask you, you had the examination before all this ruckus happened correct?"

"Yea, what about it?"

"Did you pass this examination?" Naruto was about to answer when he realized something

"I...don't...know..." Naruto never was told whether he was made a chunin or not

"Well I'm sure that you passed and got promoted my dear boy." Naruto smiled at the confidence Medivh just gave him

XXXX

"What the hell do you mean I'm not a Chunin!" Naruto was now in the middle of the Hokage's office tied up with rope.

"I was not here for the exam, and the group of individuals deciding who was Chunin material did not choose you. The only one they chose to be Chunin was Shikamaru Nara." Naruto still wasn't having any of it.

"Why did Shikamaru become a chunin then huh? Explain that to me!" Tsunade was getting tired of his arguing real fast

"Naru..."

"But I brought Sasuke back, we even took down a team of Jonin!"

"NARUTO!" this shut him up, but he didn't avert his gaze, instead just stared defiantly into her eyes.

While looking at him Tsunade tried to figure out what had happened to him. She didn't even have to be in the same room to tell that there was something different. The amount of chakra Naruto had produced before was monumental to say the least but now it was beyond description. The amount of chakra he was leaking unconsciously was enough to nearly overwhelm her when he was brought in tied up by Shizune. Aside from his now monstrous chakra he was now also changed physically. His whiskers were now a darker shade from before, and she hadn't noticed it at first being something quite subtle but from prolonged staring at him she now saw that his canines, while longer than most people's, were long enough to make him look like a dog now, or a fox.

...

That thought scared her.

"It was decided that you were not to be a chunin that's the end of the story, now tell me where you were!" Naruto now knew beyond a doubt that she was suspicious of something. But he had his excuse planned out.

"I was hungry and this hospital food doesn't cut it so I went to get some ramen."

"For three hours?" Naruto twitched when he realized he was unconscious for longer than he thought

"I like to enjoy my ramen as I eat it!" Tsunade, while his reasoning from his perspective was sound, she believed that he was still not telling them something.

"Well now since you're here I might as well tell you the fate of team 7." this got his curiosity

"With Sasuke abandoning the village willingly, we are going to have to incarcerate him until we can have him interrogated, and with that curse seal on him..." Naruto could put it together from there

"So what's going to happen with the rest of team 7?" Tsunade sighed before continuing

"Well I have decided for now you and Sakura will remain together and do D-rank missions until I see it fit that you can do any higher ranked ones."

"What about Kakashi-sensei?"

"You two should be able to handle D-ranked missions so I'm keeping Kakashi on higher ranked missions until the situation becomes a bit more stable."

This bummed Naruto out beyond all expectations. Having gotten out of those D-rank missions a while ago he was not looking forward to doing grunt work again, that and a lesser reason was he had to be with Sakura all by himself. Now that Sasuke was back, even incarcerated, he doubted he had much of a chance with Sakura now.

"Awww come on granny can't we do some C-ranked at least?..."

"I said no! Now you better get back to that hospital bed now or I'll give you another reason to be there!" Naruto sighed, well used to her threats now,he attempted to wiggle his hand around only for his fingernail to catch the rope and cut right through it. Startled a bit Naruto tried to cut through rest of the rope holding him. He wasn't sure what to expect but from how he felt his nail go through the rope like butter he was pleasantly surprised.

Continuing upward Naruto managed to get the rest of the rope, get up, and start walking out. Tsunade meanwhile wondered how he had done that without a kunai in hand.

"Yea Yea Granny just come get me when you got a real mission for me."

"Report here tomorrow morning at 10 for your mission!" walking out of her office Naruto headed back to the Hospital to obey the old lady's request.

"Jiraiya you can come in now" Pulling himself through the window Jiraiya had a perturbed look on his face.

"He's lying." Tsunade nodded at his assumption

"Yea and I'm assuming you have an idea why?" Jiraiya nodded

"Not exactly, but I've something to tell you... you know the deal right?" Tsunade sighed and nodded while Jiraiya grinned

"Yea yea just lemme finish up these last bits of paperwork and we'll head off."

Finally making it back to his room Naruto's head hit the pillow and he was about to drift off when he felt something hit his mind. Squinting his eyes in pain Naruto was feeling as if his mind was being bombarded by a tidal wave. Grabbing his head with both hands Naruto was pushing through as best as he could but it hurt like a son of a bitch.

When he felt that he couldn't take much more it stopped all of a sudden, exhausted Naruto wondered what the hell happened when he suddenly realized that he knew some new knowledge and techniques.

One of the techniques caught his attention immediately. Holding out his hand Naruto drew from the knowledge he just acquired and focused intensely. Clearing his mind he slowly spoke a couple of words. However these were not just regular words, these words had power behind them, literally and figuratively. Visualizing what he wanted to happen and concentrating his chakra to the center of his hand Naruto pronounced the last syllable while letting out a solid burst of chakra. In his palm Naruto now saw a glowing blueish white energy. Concentrating the energy into a condensed ball Naruto thrust his palm out and with a burst of chakra the energy expanded outward. The energy expanded like a harsh wind and froze the whole of the wall in front of his bed with about a foot of ice. Looking at the wall then his hand, then the wall again Naruto was not sure what to think.

The only people that were said to be able to manipulate ice were Haku's old clan, which were all dead now...

Dredging up even more knowledge he remembered reading in a book that some spells in Azeroth required you to speak certain words in order to shape your energy correctly and make the spell work. This sounded similar to how ninja's used hand signs to shape their energy, and he sensed a possible connection there.

Getting jarred out of his thoughts he remembered that he now had a wall of ice in his room.

'Oh boy they won't be happy to see that.' Thinking of something he could do to clean up all of that frozen water...

'Frozen...water!' quickly trying what he was imagining Naruto tried to move the ice as he moved the water like before. However it did not work like he had planned as a sheet of ice broke off from the wall and started floating in the air due to his actions. Trying to figure out how to turn it back into water Naruto began fiddling with it's form like an artist made an ice sculpture. As he compressed it and compressed it, it did nothing but turn into a big ice ball.

Remembering that in order for the ice to be ice he had to keep his emotions down below what he usually did, Naruto tried the opposite of that. Thinking of his usual happier thoughts the ice suddenly transformed into water. Grinning Naruto then controlled the rest of the ice in his room to become water and float towards the globe that was now in his hands. Deciding to mess around a bit Naruto made the water seem like a serpent as it coiled around the room.

Although he believed it moved like a serpent Naruto knew that it only looked like a long glob of water flowing through the air. Deciding to try and give it form he attempted to make it look like an actual snake. This proved harder than he thought it would however as when he pictured a snake in his mind and tried to make it so with the water, all he got it to do was change form slightly. Feeling tired he decided to give up for the night. Dispersing the water into the air he then let his head hit the back of his pillow and fall asleep.

XXXX

"We're finally here." Taking a big swig of sake frayed her nerves real nice as she sat at in the booth.

Jiraiya and Tsunade would always go out for drinks when either

A. Tsunade had a stressful day and she needed someone to talk to

or

B. Jiraiya needed to talk with her about something that didn't directly impact the village, but was important none the less

Jiraiya decided to be the one to start the conversation

"I'm not sure what you're gonna do with the Uchiha honestly, with that curse seal still on him I'm not sure he's going to be able to be a ninja without us constantly worrying of him betraying the village." taking a swig for himself he then set the bottle down in the middle.

"Can't you just take the seal off him?" Jiraiya shook his head and had a look that said he had already gone over that option.

"If only it were that easy, with what Orochimaru did to the seal it's even more integrated into his body now, so if I try to remove the seal and I fail, it will kill him." Tsunade took another swig and just stared at the bottle

"I just don't know, with him being the last member of the Uchiha clan Koharu, Homura, and the rest of the council are still arguing on what should be done. Whether to keep him imprisoned forever, death, or even given to Danzo for... rehabilitation." Jiraiya and Tsunade both shook their heads at the implications of it all. What with how fanatical the Root members were to their leader, there was no telling what Danzo would do with Sasuke.

"Could we bring in someone from another village? Maybe someone knows something you don't." Jiraiya shook his head again.

"I've already thought of that and looked up a couple of people, the problem is unless we had information on the mark from Orochimaru himself we won't know nearly as much as we could, I'll bring them in anyway but don't get your hopes up." Tsunade didn't like that news

"It's hopeless than isn't it, were gonna keep him imprisoned for the rest of his life unless we agree to kill him."

"I do have a thought, but I'm gonna go through my other contacts before I resort to it." Tsunade finished off the bottle before giving a big sigh of refreshment

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jiraiya waved for another bottle of sake before going back to thinking

"Well from what I know there is possibly a way the fire temple can help us." Tsunade took another swig and looked back at Jiraiya

"Just do it, after you exhaust your other sources go to the fire temple. And for Kami's sake please hurry or else the Council is going to be the end of me." Tsunade was now swirling the contents of the bottle in her hand while Jiraiya continued on.

"Oh and you know how I believe Naruto has been getting some other training?" Tsunade and Jiraiya had talked about it for a long while after the encounter with Orochimaru and had come to the conclusion that Naruto was being taught by someone else, though with little physical evidence let alone a face they could go off they had no real reason to pursue it as of yet.

"What about it? You learn anything new?" Jiraiya swiped the bottle from her hand and poured some more for himself

"Well I have finally managed to get a look at the guy." this greatly interested her as she then sat up a bit

"And?"

"Well let's just say I don't think that he is a local." Tsunade began to pop her knuckles

"What I'm saying is that I'm going to go to Inoichi for some help in getting a picture and bring it to you tomorrow!" quickly covering his face he braced himself for a punch, only for her to grab the bottle back and take another swig.

"You better for your sake." Jiraiya sighed before leaning back in his chair signaling the bartender over for another bottle

XXXX

Waking up Naruto rubbed his eyes, sat up, then stretched and prepared for the new day until he remembered what had happened last night. Clones, even while in Azeroth, managed to transfer information back to him. Eyes widening he was about to head to Medivh and ask him to make a portal when he remembered what Tsunade had said.

' Might as well 'officially' check out once in my lifetime.' getting out of his bed he felt noticeably better than the day before, ready and rarin to go.

Heading out of his room Naruto headed to one of the checkpoints between sections of the hospital in hopes of finding someone to check him out of the hospital. He was close to the end of the hall when someone he recognized came around the corner.

"Shikamaru!" said genius heard his name and looked up to see Naruto in a hospital gown in front of him, he sighed but smiled none the less

"Should have known you would try to get out of the hospital as soon as possible." Naruto and Shikamaru shared a laugh

As the laughing died both of them started to simultaneously head in the direction Naruto was heading in before Shikamaru spoke up.

"So...we actually succeeded huh." Naruto raised an eyebrow at his tone

"You thought we wouldn't?" Shikamaru gave a non-chalant shrug

"Honestly five genin out to retrieve a traitor from an unknown amount of enemy forces, which turned out to be 5 jonins I'm surprised we all managed to make it back alive." Naruto remembered that he did not know the actual status of his teammates and hearing him say that was a relief in itself.

"So how are the others?"

"Chouji and Neji both got the worst of the injuries while Lee and Kiba are fine, though Akamaru is also being treated quite a bit from what I hear."

"I'm surprised you don't seem to have any injuries." Shikamaru then held up his right hand where he saw a bandage around his index finger

"Not quite if I say so, what about you? You seem to be doing alright." Smirking because they were comparing scars Naruto unbuttoned his top before showing shikamaru the scar on his chest. Shikmaru's eyes actually widened when he looked at his scar.

"What did he do to you?" Naruto buttoned his top back up

"He hit me with Chidori." Shikamaru remembered back to the Chunin exams where he saw Sasuke's technique pierce Gaara's ultimate defense. Shikamaru shivered

"I'm surprised that left you in one piece." Naruto smirked

"Well I'm the most unpredictable ninja for a reason aren't I?" he laughed at his own joke while Shikamaru smiled, Naruto then noticed his coat and remembered

"Oh yea how come you were made chunin and I wasn't! You gave up on your match while I won mine!" Shikamaru sighed realizing Naruto was back to his old self again

"I don't know Naruto you'd be better off asking them."

"Well Genin, Chunin, Jonin, or Hokage no matter what title I have I'm still gonna be the strongest Ninja in the village!" Shikamaru just muttered a 'troublesome' as they reached a desk.

"Well I was gonna come see you anyway so that saved me a walk to your side of the hospital. Since your doing ok I'm going to go check back up on Neji and Chouji." turning and walking towards another area of the hospital Shikamaru waved goodbye lazily over his shoulder.

Quickly checking out of the hospital Naruto signed the last form and let out a sigh, putting his arms over his head and popping them, Naruto grinned.

"Finally out of the hospital, say do you guys have my clothes?" The clerk behind the counter shook his head

"When you were brought in your clothes were basically gone and so the rest were taken off so they could make you more comfortable." Sighing Naruto shook his head but started walking out of the hospital.

"Oh well I'll just stop by my apartment, thank you!" walking out of the hospital Naruto decided that he would just stroll to his apartment since, for one, it wasn't that far away. And another, he felt the need to just walk and not be in a hurry to be somewhere. Pushing open the doors and taking a deep breath of the outside morning air Naruto felt even better for some reason .

"Nothing like the fresh morning air to get you up and moving." With his hands to his sides, since he didn't have pockets, Naruto began his walk home." as he walked down the street towards his apartment he noticed he got looks from most of the civilian population. He realized that he was currently only in a hospital gown but that was not what was making him narrow his eyes slightly. As he walked by people they usually treated him like a family treats a hated in-law. They would not like him but refuse to say it to his face, they would do their best to ignore his existence altogether, or the one family member with enough guts would openly quarrel/argue, with him.

However this time they seemed to look at him with a bit of uncertainty as if wondering how to judge him. Now Naruto had ,in his time, dealt with unruly parents and kids that had given him a hard time growing up, but other than a few incidents most of those cases hadn't gone past looks or a few choice words. As he walked past a mother and her son she seemed to hurry past him gripping her boy's arm tighter as if afraid he would do something to him.

This confused Naruto but it also upset him a bit, he wanted these people's respect, not their fear. However, he could not deny that a part of him did enjoy it somewhat. After having wanted people to recognize his strength for so long these people now understood that his power was a force to be reckoned with. But as it is with humanity, humans fear the unknown, which Naruto basically was. So few people actually knew him personally and barely any of them that did were either ninja's or Teuchi and Ayame.

As he finally got to his apartment complex Naruto took the stairs to his apartment and tried to open the door but realized it was locked. Sighing, remembering where his clothes were, Naruto hopped over the rail keeping him from going over and walked on the wall and hopped through his window. Opening his closet he pulled another of his jumpsuits threw it on and walked back out the door heading out to the Hokage's office. Walking along the railing, heading down the stairs, and walking down the street Naruto stopped mid-step as he thought back to what he learned. He was positive that he was now able to keep the clones going even while through the portal.

'Since I'm gonna be doing D-ranked missions for a while I might as well get training done while I'm doing it" heading in the opposite direction he ran across rooftops and towards the gates of the village. But as he landed and was about to head out of the gates he was stopped as two gate guards appeared.

"Uzumaki you're not allowed outside the village for the time being." this surprised him as no one had stopped him before when he went out

"What do you mean I can't go out?"

"We've been ordered to not let you go outside the village for the time being." As he was about to give up and just walk off back towards the tower he saw what seemed to be a family walking outside the gates being ignored by the guards.

"What about them? How come they can go outside?" The guard glanced in that direction before shrugging

"We were only ordered to keep you in the village Uzumaki so I recommend you turn around and go back inside." the guy had the tone of voice of an arrogant jackass which annoyed him enough at the moment to believe that it was worth getting in trouble for. Deciding to go ahead with his training Naruto decided to test something he had learned earlier but not developed as much as he could have at the time.

"Hey guys what's that!" waving his hand over to the side of the village both guards looked over and tried to find what he was looking at, squinting they could not see what he had pointed at.

"Hey what were you..." As the Chunin turned back to Naruto he saw that he was now gone.

Meanwhile Naruto was long out of the gates and was now on his way to the cave Medivh occupied. Unknown to the two of them, they had just been a victim of subtle manipulation by Naruto. Similar to the time he was training to try and manipulate that bug to do something he wanted, he had done the same thing to those two guards by tapping into their minds and subtly encouraging them to look at where he was pointing for longer than they would normally. This kind of manipulation to the brain was not the deepest facet to this kind of magic in any regard so it was quite simple to do, even with humans. It wasn't anything close to manipulation like he wanted but it was enough to be happy with at the moment as he leapt through the trees.

Following the pulse like he had all the times before, he noticed that it seemed to be getting weaker and weaker each time he went there. That wasn't a problem however as he was close to memorizing how to get to the cave anyway.

Walking through the illusion guarding the entrance Naruto walked further into the cave, walked up to the wall at the back, put his hand up against it, and watched as the cave split open. Walking in Medivh was, like before, seemingly waiting for him to show, standing in the middle of the room.

"Don't you get bored out here Bird-man? I mean, it's not like there is much to do in here."

"You'd be surprised at how much I get around dear boy, I also find that a more humble lifestyle makes you appreciate the smaller things in life that much more."

"Yea small things alright." Naruto thought to where Medivh used to live and nearly laughed out loud

"So what may I ask dear boy are you doing here? Shouldn't you be doing something for your village?"

"Well I am but before I do I'm going to get some training done while I do so." Medivh raised an inquisitive eyebrow

"What did you have in mind dear child?" Naruto then laid out his plan to come to the cave every day and send alot of clones to karazhan to train every day while Tsunade had him doing D-ranked missions. This way he would keep her happy, and keep getting stronger at the same time.

"It seems like a well thought out plan Naruto, so how many are you going to send to Karazhan?" Naruto thought about it and remembered he did a couple hundred the day before yesterday.

"I'll probably send a couple hundred at least." Medivh nodded and held out his hand opening a portal.

"Whenever you are ready." doing the seal clones started to pop up and as soon as they did they immediately headed straight through the portal while other clones popped up and followed them. As soon as Naruto felt it was enough he stopped making them and Medivh closed the portal.

"So what are you going to be doing today Naruto?" sighing Naruto responded with a less than enthusiastic tone

"Well Granny has us doing D-ranked missions, which is basically grunt work so I must get stronger while doing this at least."

"Well that is a smart mindset to take, I suggest you go and do those missions, the faster you get them done the faster you can move on to other activities." nodding at his reasoning waving goodbye to Medivh Naruto ran out of the cave and ran back to the village hopefully making it on time to meet with Tsunade.

Getting closer to the cave Naruto remembered he now had to go back through the gates without alerting the guards, who he could see were inside the gates and hadn't seen him yet.

Waving his hand again and encouraging their minds to pay attention to a bird that was flying over head Naruto sprinted low and hard past them and started leaping from rooftop to rooftop towards the Hokage tower.

XXXX

"So nice of you to join us." Naruto had unfortunately been a couple minutes late but that didn't really matter as much at this point.

"For now you guys are assigned to help with the reconstruction near the area where the summon busted through the wall." Naruto sighed while Sakura was blank in her expression before walking out and heading to the person that was in charge of them for the duration of the mission.

As both of them left and began walking towards where the reconstruction effort was taking place Naruto and Sakura walked on in a bit of awkward silence. Well it was awkward for Naruto while Sakura seemed to be in her own little world. As they continued Naruto finally broke the silence and spoke up.

"So Sakura...what have they done with Sasuke?" Mentioning the name she seemed to brighten up and get depressed at the same time

"Well Tsunade-sama has him imprisoned for now, but from what I hear she hasn't decided what to do with him permanently yet."

"What do you think they are going to do with him?" Sakura thought about it for a second.

"I'm guessing that it would be too much to ask for everything to go back to normal." Naruto nearly scoffed at hearing her say that but he held it back

"Well it was serious what he tried to do."

"Yea I guess so..." she nodded but her tone of voice held a longing that he could tell was for far more than just 'back to normal'. Sighing Naruto put on a small smile as they finally got to the area their mission was in

"Well we better get started."

XXXX

The rest of the day basically consisted of Naruto and Sakura doing whatever the workers and civilians required of them, for the most part Naruto's clones did a lot of the work as they were able to help most everyone that required assistance, though that didn't mean Naruto was sitting on the sidelines either. Since his clones for the most part were working on techniques and spells, he would work on the physical aspect of the job. As his clones would dispell he would help the person that required the most physically strenuous activities. Clearing out the heaviest of the wall rubble kept him busy for a lot of the day. But since he did have a couple hundred clones out and about, this made the job go quite a bit faster. And soon enough their civilian liaison for the day had let them go early since Naruto had basically did a one man job of clearing away the rubble that was left.

Sakura did not fare as well as Naruto on the other hand, during the day she would take the less stressful jobs. But even then she would have to take a break every so often.

When they got back to the tower Tsunade said they were done for the day and sent them away. It was barely 4 and Naruto was bored, so deciding to do something constructive he headed off to team 7's training ground. Having thrown his jacket over his shoulder from doing all that labor, he made to the training ground and discarded his jacket next to a tree. Making a single clone Naruto popped his neck and nodded at the clone. However unlike before where he was feeling parts of his body being affected by controlling the water, his whole body suddenly slammed into the ground quite hard. The pressure stopped almost immediately and when it did he glared at the clone before getting back up on his feet.

Not having to give a verbal command since the clone knew what he wanted him to do, he then did it again. This time however Naruto managed to stay up, though it was not easy to say the least. With his new monumental power boost all of his techniques had gone up in strength. His body felt as if he made one false move he would be crushed like he was before. Trying to move his leg proved harder than he thought since he was now trying to make his physical strength greater than the force of the water in his body pulling him down.

As the day pulled to a close and Naruto finished his training he was now sweating quite a bit.

Heading home Naruto jumped in through the window and sat down at the base of his bed.

Closing his eyes and bracing for impact Naruto gave the mental command to dispell.

As the freight train, which were his thoughts, collided with his mind he began to gain the knowledge of what happened in Karazhan.

Again as before when he was about to pass out due to it being to much it suddenly stopped. Leaning back against his bed frame breathing deeply Naruto went over what new stuff he learned today. Much of what he was doing and planned to continue doing was to increase his control over his power. After all the more energy you put into a technique the more powerful it got, generally speaking. For example if he was able to push more chakra into his rasengan and keep it the same size it would become much more potent due to it's power being condensed. He did however keep the other half of the clones working on other techniques that way he wouldn't lag behind.

Another piece of information crossed his mind as he had a bit of a quizzical look on his face from it. Waving his hand and pulling a rasengan sized glob of water out of the air,Naruto then concentrated and watched as the form of the glob changed. As the glob of water got longer it started to look like a snake. However Naruto was not finished yet as he then began changing the top. As it finished morphing the top finally took the form of a snake's head.

Smiling at his work Naruto began to mess around with it as he made it slither through the air and pretend to bite at little dust-balls on the floor. Thinking of something Naruto pushed aside his emotions and spoke a few whispers, the snake froze in his hand. Bringing it over to his hand Naruto inspected it and laughed.

"Well that's one way to learn control."

XXXX

Over the next 2 weeks Naruto and Sakura were basically doing the same thing as the first day which included manual labor and the occasional helping with constructing a house or other structure. Although he was happy he was at least getting a workout, he was quickly getting tired of the D-ranked missions again. Since he got more of a workout from his own measures Naruto felt that he wasn't getting stronger as fast as he could. After all Akatsuki were out there and they were not going to just sit around and wait for him to fix a window.

As Naruto woke up for another day of D-ranked missions he went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. After gurgling and spitting he just sat there and looked at himself in the mirror.

"Why can't she let us do something else for change!..." he shook his head and continued getting ready for the day.

"If only there were a way for someone else to do this for me..." as he put on his jumpsuit he suddenly froze. As realization hit him, Naruto facepalmed.

"I'm such an idiot." Finishing getting ready Naruto created a clone, which headed off to Tsunade's office to do his D-ranked missions

A big sigh of relief escaped his mouth as he went about breakfast at a more sedate pace. Finishing up his ramen Naruto sat in his chair and thought of what he should do.

"Well I haven't been to Karazhan myself in quite a while." so deciding what he was going to do Naruto headed out and made his way towards the gates. After checking who the guards were from a distance Naruto did his subtle manipulation which made a nearby kid and his mother seem to draw their attention. Sneaking through low and fast Naruto ran through the forest and towards the cave. On his way there he passed by another ninja, dressed like a usual jonin only this one seemed to be wearing a mask, he tried to wave but the ninja seemed spooked to see him and was now hauling ass back towards the village.

One thing made Naruto frown however as the only thing that was in this direction was Medivh's cave...

'Has he been found?' speeding up Naruto made it to the cave and through the entrance. Inside, instead of Medivh just standing there, he was now staring into what appeared to be a crystal ball.

"Bird man?" Medivh turned around while pocketing his crystal ball.

"Oh hello dear boy are you going to send more clones to Azeroth?"

"Nah I'm gonna go there myself since I sent a clone to do my missions for me...Say has anyone found this cave other than me?" at hearing this Medivh shook his head

"You don't have to worry about that at the moment dear boy, everything is under control." Try as he might Naruto could not tell if he was telling the truth or lying through his teeth, but he nodded regardless.

"Well here you go dear boy, I hope you get stronger while there." smiling Medivh made the portal and Naruto ran through

XXXX

The rest of the day consisted of Naruto working in Karazhan doing his leopard style katas while a clone would force his body to push and pull in different directions constantly making him strain against it therefore increasing all of his strength and not just certain areas. It was all going fine and dandy until he suddenly felt a flash of a memory. This wasn't what he was used to considering he was now releasing hundreds of clones at the same time. This clone, along with several dozen others, had been requested by Gurunk to help with the tribe and give the ogres something to fight that wouldn't potentially be their fellow clan member. Over the past two weeks Gurunk had worked together with Naruto and devised a way to let the Ogre's vent their fighting urges while not hurting the clan.

The solution was actually quite simple, clones had been requested nearly every day by Gurunk to let the Ogres continuously fight and vent their violent urges at will. Naruto had even began to henge into the Ogre's form to let them 'fight sumone our own size'. That's not all they were doing however, as some clones would do constructive things such as attempting to clean up the camp, building new huts, and helping gather what food they could from the valley while sometimes going into the neighboring regions. While a bit labor intensive he used these tasks to test his new techniques in a way that was productive. For example using different fire spells to burn trash that had been around the camp.

This clone had been up on the mountainside working on a hut when it had been grabbed by it's underarms and hoisted into the air. However something had pierced the clones arms and was dispelled.

Narrowing his eyes as he headed towards the door he began to hear the sounds of combat and the warcry of some ogres. As he opened the door and ran towards the camp he saw several humanoid figures were flying in the air above the camp. Hurrying up Naruto went through the old town into the tribe's village and was welcomed with the sight of ogres and his clones around the camp fighting off the intruders.

These intruders had been unlike anything he had ever seen before, they looked to be a cross between a female humanoid and a bird, with long talons for feet,large graceful wings for arms, and with their feathers a light blue they were quite stunning to look at. However that did not stop from from recognizing them as a threat. As he looked about the camp he could see the Ogres had already grabbed their crude weapons and were battling the airborne invaders the best they could, but with the birds ability to fly it was quite a challenge to get contact much less a killing blow. Many different battles were raging around the camp as groups of the winged menace tried to take down single Ogres.

That proved difficult to the lithe and nimble bird people as he saw that the ogres were as tough as they looked, most of them shrugging off wounds that would have left a man writhing in pain. However that didn't mean they weren't vulnerable.

As he glanced around the camp he saw one of the ogres go down to two of the birds burying their talons into his skull. Their victory didn't last long however as one of the birds was lanced by a spear thrown by another ogre. The other bird looked up to see two more ogres rushing their location, moving quickly she took flight to avoid them and go off to find another potential target.

Naruto moved in to help as he saw one ogre that was surrounded by half a dozen of the birds.

Swinging a flail the ogre attempted a whirlwind of sorts but the birds just backed out of range and resumed their attempt to gouge and claw at him, however he took the butt of the handle and caved in the head of one that got within range and swung his weapon again. However instead of hitting a bird with the end of the flail it wrapped around it's midsection. This didn't stop the ogre however as he just turned around and brought the bird over his shoulder and slammed it into the ground, leaving quite a mess. Not even flinching at their sister's gruesome death they continued to claw at, who Naruto now recognized, as Gurunk. Naruto saw that Gurunk had alot of wounds on him, a slash across his now shut eye and a particularly deep gash across his arm were bleeding profusely.

Moving quickly Naruto created more clones while he personally went to help Gurunk. As he joined the fray however he saw that another bird a bit larger than the others was among those attacking Gurunk. Moving to intercept them Naruto weaved his way through the groups battling while his clones were spreading all around camp to provide support to his tribe. Even as he got closer to his second in command he could already tell the battle was swinging in their direction.

One particularly big group was fighting in the middle of the camp when Naruto's clones joined the fray. Suddenly bird women started dropping like flies as they were hit with many different effects. Some of them were hit with several kunai, while others had their bodies slammed into the ground or cliff walls against their will. And even more, some of them went down shrieking as they were dissolved from the inside out.

As, what Naruto guessed, the leader of the group saw him coming she and two of the others split off to engage him. Without breaking a stride he created two clones to deal with the other two interlopers. The two guards had made it to him first attempting to pluck Naruto's head off like a hawk would swoop, grab its prey, and then fly off. Side stepping out of the way Naruto kept running towards the leader while the other one tried to do the same tactic as the first only to be dodged as Naruto spun to his right. Continuing on Naruto heard the impact of something hitting the ground which he guessed was one of the guards, then he heard and saw the other guard thrown past him.

Flying low and fast, the leader attempted to do a fast sweep with her talons which would have probably cut his legs near off if they had connected. However Naruto just flipped over her and grabbed under each wing with his hands. As he landed Naruto skidded a few feet before finally managing to throw the leader over his head towards the other side of the camp. As she flew, she managed to right herself and gain some altitude, becoming well out of reach. Suddenly feeling and seeing energy being used by the bird lady, Naruto ran towards the cliff wall, jumped and ran up it. As he did he felt something hit the wall below him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as the energy dissapated.

He recognized that feeling from when he did his technique for lightning.

'Well this isn't good'

Finally getting up high enough Naruto made a jump at the creature hoping to bring it down, it however had other plans. As Naruto flew, the creature got further away from him and fired another of those balls of lightning at him. Creating a barrier Naruto felt it collide with the side of his barrier and bounce off. Creating a clone mid air Naruto leapt off it and made to get closer to it. Naruto continued to do this in hopes of apprehending the leader, but every time Naruto managed to get close it would just fly away. As Naruto finally fell and landed on the ground he was about to control the water in her body when the leader shrieked out what seemed to be a command.

It seemed to get the rest of the bird womens attention as they suddenly all started to fly off over the mountain pass towards parts that would have been inaccessible unless you were either a ninja or could fly. As he saw them fly off he also saw the leader try to fly off too.

"Oh no you don't!" holding his right hand out he concentrated and pull his hand down to his side. As he did this the bird seemed to realize it was not in control of it's own body and began to thrash around in mid air. Getting closer and closer Naruto finally managed to get her down to the ground where he pressed her hard enough to where she couldn't move. As he did this Ogres from all over the camp walked up with Gurunk joining him by his side all looking at the strange creature, Gurunk with his good eye.

"Are you going to be alright Gurunk?" he shrugged seemingly not noticing the wound.

"I'll be fine after a while boss." Naruto made a mental note to himself to see if there was anything on healing in some of Medivh's books.

"Hey Gurunk do you know what this is?" Gurunk scratched his head

"I've seen dem before boss but I dun know what dey is called."

"Where have you seen them before?"

"Back when Kolbine was boss dey would attack humies or others dat tried to get through here."

"Have they ever attacked you before?"

"Nah boss dis is da first time dey attacked us." about to ask him another question he was suddenly interrupted

"You are like him..." Naruto was quite surprised to hear the creature talk. Looking up at Gurunk, who shrugged, Naruto went back to his prisoner

"What do you mean I am like him?"

"Your presence is similar to his." Unlike the ogres around him who spoke like children this creature seemed to put quite a bit of intelligence and thought behind how it spoke, along with it's vocabulary.

"Who?"

"We do not know his name but he inhabited the tower which you live in..." the only one that he knew lived in the tower before him was Medivh

"Did he have a staff with a bird on top?"

"Yes, he had that weapon, we tried to make him leave too..." remembering how powerful Medivh claimed to be he shook his head

"I'm guessing that did not go well?"

"No we were utterly defeated by that man and his magics. You have the same aura as him."

"So why did you attack now?"

"After the sky cleared we were not sure what to expect. but after waiting and watching I decided that we should drive these primitive ogres out and claim the valley for ourselves, that among other reasons." If Naruto had looked closer he would have noted that her skin had grown a tiny shade darker, but he was distracted by angry murmurs that broke out among the ogres until Naruto held up his hand

He was honestly not sure what to do with this...

"What are you?"

"I am a Harpy human, I am known as Mistress Podarge by my kind."

'What an odd name.'

Again not sure what to do with this Harpy leader Naruto stood there thinking for close to a minute. He could kill her, but that wouldn't deal with the problem of the other Harpies in the valley. He needed to do something with this leader that way she would tell her sisters.

"What would you do if I were to let you return to your sisters?"

Podarge, leader of the Harpies of Deadwind Pass had not honestly expected this question. After having been captured by a human of all things she had believed her death was close at hand. But when she took the time to inspect this human she was shocked at how strong his aura was, the man from before was powerful by all means, but this human, this child, was unconsciously emanating that made her senses feel if she was looking at the sun. She now saw why the Ogres followed this human of all things, she remembered the chieftain from before, and even she would not have faced him in single combat if she could have helped it, but here this human had obviously defeated and took the place of the former chieftain.

"Why would you let me go after attacking your clan? I would guess that your clan would rather see me dead than free." Naruto noticed some of the clan seemed to be fingering their weapons itching for an excuse.

"From the way I see it, either you live and we try to work on living together or you die and your sisters are leaderless. So now I'm going to propose something." Now this interested her

"What do you mean human?"

Looking around the cliffs he saw that noone except for him would probably be able to get there.

"How about if you live in peace with us I'll do my best to provide assistance in what you need from food to protection." Podarge should have been excited but she was even more confused now

"Why do you do this Human, what purpose is there for you to keep me, or even my sisters, alive?" Naruto just smiled

"I'd like to think that the saying 'When the war is over, make alliances' explains it quite well. I'd rather not have to fight you guys just for control over this valley when we could live peacefully."

"You are naive to think like that in this world of all places human but, I can see your point." she then sat there for a few more seconds in deep thought.

"All I have to do is make sure my sisters don't attack you or your clan?" nodding, Naruto then suddenly thought of something

"Oh and no attacking people that walk through the pass, now that it's not dark and gloomy anymore I wouldn't be surprised if people tried to go through." a frown marred the face of the bird woman

"We got most of our...nevermind."

"Most of your what?" if she could she would have been shaking her head

"Nothing human, I'll make sure my sisters do not attack you clan or anything that comes through the valley."Looking into her eyes as she swore he nodded and let up with his technique. Naruto knew there was something she wasn't telling him, but right now he only wanted cooperation.

"If you guys will knock on the door and ask for my help I'll do what I can, though you'll probably have to tell me what you eat." Flapping her wings and landing on her feet Podarge looked around her before grabbing her unconscious guards gently with her legs, shooting up into the air and flying towards where the stone bridge was, and over the mountains to the other side.

"Alright guys let's clean up the camp and burn the dead, they won't trouble you anymore." Now this sudden mention of burning bodies might seem like something he would take a little more seriously but if any of the time he had spent with the ogres had taught him anything about ogres, it was that your life could be ended if you looked at someone the wrong way. Over the last few weeks Naruto had seen a few of those incidents and decided he would need a way to end them. For a while it seemed that anything he tried, from trying to mediate, to even saying no fighting altogether would not work.

It would be about a week and a half before he realized he shouldn't have been trying to block their violent urges and tendencies, but instead get them to release them somewhere constructive and safe, hence the clones.

"Boss dey wants to fight more now." Gurunk chipped in helpfully

"Well I'm sorry to hear that but I can't do anything about that right now." Putting "find a fight for his clan" on his mental to-do list Naruto headed back to the tower to train for the rest of the day while his clones continued to help.

XXXX

His training went on until he suddenly felt a surge of a memory from Konoha, one of the clones that was doing D-missions had dispelled itself when a ninja had summoned both him and Sakura. Moving quickly since for the past week the only time they had seen Tsunade was for missions, he had a feeling he would want to be there himself. He was moving towards the front entrance, he arrived to find that the portal wasn't up.

Cursing himself Naruto remembered that he still had a while before Medivh would put up the portal which had become their routine time. Thinking quickly Naruto decided to try and open the portal himself, he was already able to enter the twisting nether with his senses, that along with the fact that some of his clones had found the book they had asked Medivh about, so taking what he learned from the book Naruto opened up his senses to try and sense the portal. As he searched the area he suddenly felt what he could call a ball of energy with a link coming out of it and going into the the unknown. Recognizing this from the book Medivh had helped him find, Naruto pushed his Chakra into the small opening and slowly widened it while pushing more chakra in to take up more of the space. As it got bigger Naruto made the energy circle outward that way it could keep the portal in a stable form while also giving him room to enter. Making a clone Naruto made it go into the portal first making sure he did it correctly, he waited patiently as he held the portal open.

He only had to wait a couple seconds as the clone soon popped out of the portal and landed next to him.

"It works boss." before dispelling itself

Keeping the flow of chakra constant Naruto walked into the portal and felt the same feelings as before. Honestly he was quite surprised he didn't screw up on the first time doing it.

Walking out the other side Medivh was grinning at him.

"Well done my boy, you have managed to correctly use this portal without my help. Though I warn you, in order to use a portal to a place where you have been before you must leave an imprint or link, like the one you followed here and follow it to it's source." Naruto nodded before heading towards the entrance

"You're back early aren't you, is something the matter?"

"Granny wants to talk to us about something important and I don't think she wants to talk to a clone hahaha." running out Naruto made his way back towards the village.

Getting past the gate guards had become so easy Naruto could make them look at even the most obscure of things while he would run past them. Getting past them he made his way to the Hokage tower. As he got closer he saw his clone and Sakura walking closer and closer to the Hokage tower. Thinking quickly Naruto made a person passing by grab her attention while he dispelled the clone and took its place, gaining it's memory of what they did today.

Walking in silence Naruto broke the ice.

"So what do you think Granny wants to talk to us about?" Sakura snapped out of her own little world before looking at the door to the Hokage's office

"I don't know, maybe they've finally decided what to do with Sasuke." Naruto nodded thinking the same thing.

Walking past the Anbu Guard Naruto and Sakura approached her desk and waited for her to give them the reason they were there.

Looking up from her usual work Tsunade did not seem to be looking forward to this conversation at all.

"I'm assuming you two have guessed why you have been called here." Both nodded not needing to say any more.

"Well it has taken a while but a decision has been made regarding the Uchiha."

"It took two weeks to do that?" Tsunade glared at him but sighed

"Politics are a pain in the ass, anyway it has been decided that until we can remove the curse seal, we are going to keep him incarcerated indefinitely." Naruto could understand the decision and felt that with the curse seal on it was a smart thing to do, however he could tell that Sakura was not exactly happy with the decision.

She did not speak out because she did remember when they were in the forest and how the curse seal affected him and his personality. Sakura voiced question that was on her mind after hearing that though

"Will he be back to normal if we remove the curse seal?"

"We do not know, even if we were to remove the curse seal we do not have a sure fire way of knowing whether he was affected by the curse seal or if he did it all of his own free will." Sakura did not give up easily however

"What about Ino and her clan? Can't they go into his head or something?"

"The Yamanaka clan are able to view the events in his mind, not the motivations behind them. That and the curse seal, even sealed, is dangerous enough for them to not want to enter his mind."

"Can Pervy Sage remove the mark" Tsunade waved out that question

"If he could he would have done it by now. Removing the seal is easy, but removing it while keeping him alive is another thing altogether."

"How come?" she sighed getting annoyed with his questions

"Put in simple terms the seal is now part of him, if we take that away there is a high probability that it could kill him." getting the picture Naruto didn't have anything else to add, while Sakura did

"So what is going to happen to team 7 now?" Tsunade leaned back against her chair

"Until we can find a more permanent solution you will continue to do D-ranked missions." Naruto groaned while Sakura didn't look much more excited than he did

"Shut it Naruto, if you keep doing a good job I may send you on higher ranked missions, until then do what you are told! You are dismissed." as they exited the tower all Naruto wanted to do was find something to get rid of his frustration. Walking off towards the training ground Naruto was unprepared for Sakura to call out to him.

"Naruto wait up!" he stopped and turned seeing her walk up to him, however she seemed to be inwardly debating something. They both stood there for a while until Naruto was about to leave.

"Naruto you wanna go do something?"

'What the hell?' Now a while ago Naruto would have probably said yes, but right now he was just confused. A couple days ago she was all over Sasuke and ignoring him, and now of all times after hearing that news she wants to go out with him?

...

Just thinking that, Naruto could only guess why, but he was pretty sure he knew it wasn't because she was truly interested in him.

Turning around Naruto waved her off.

"No thanks Sakura." Sakura was stunned, there was no way that this could possibly be happening. This was Naruto she was talking to right? The loyal team companion who would always be there for her, and always be like the love stricken puppy that she could count on for support? Her pillar of strength that she could fall back on when anything happened?

Not knowing how to react she did what was instinctual to her.

'Hmmm it's a bit late to be going back to Karaz...'smack!' Naruto found himself stumbling forward as he felt an impact against his head, turning around he saw Sakura with an outstretched hand.

"What the hell Sakura!" Sakura just continued to glare at him.

"What do you mean 'no' Naruto?" Naruto was glaring at her but more than anything he was confused

"I mean I do not want to go do something with you Sakura." crossing her arms Sakura did not look like she would let up with this soon

"Why not!"

"Do I need to give you a reason?"

"Yes you do!"

"Why should I when every time I asked you out all you did was say how I couldn't compare to Sasuke at all? After all that's happened NOW you want a reason for why I am saying no to you?" Sakura was taken back a bit at this new Naruto, since when did he ever argue with her? He turned around and started walking off hopefully getting her to stop in the process but his hopes were dashed as she soon ran out in front of him. Why she was being so persistent he had no idea.

"Naruto why can't we go somewhere?" fed up with her arrogant attitude Naruto decided to hit two birds with one stone. Take her down a peg, and verify something.

"You know what Sakura, since you've been asking me questions I have a question for you. What is it about him that would make you want to abandon everything?" Sakura blanched at hearing him say that which confirmed Naruto's suspicions, Sasuke hadn't been lying.

"Where did you hear something like that?" Her attempt at trying to cover up was so lousy even a child would have known she was lying

"From the traitor himself." Sakura's mouth was now open trying to speak but no words would come out. As she stood there trying to speak Naruto had enough and walked off leaving her in the street with many of the people giving her and Naruto a wide berth.

XXXX

His foot colliding with the base of the tree at the training ground, Naruto watched with some satisfaction as the tree was taken off from the base and fell down. As the tree landed against the ground Naruto was running his hands through his hair trying to calm down. This did not help though as Naruto felt the urge to cause to destruction.

Looking out into the river he saw a rock all by it's lonesome.

Holding his hand out a wave of force raced out across the water and collided with the rock. The rock shattered and a pillar of water exploded raining all across the training ground. Sighing as the water fell around him Naruto sat down next to a tree leaning back against it while he closed his eyes and thought of the situation.

Naruto did not like to hurt people, well unless they hurt him or someone close to him, but Sakura had just pushed it and he was feeling very violent at the moment. It was still early in the afternoon but he felt tired.

Naruto was not sure what to think about Sasuke, ok he was mad at him for leaving but could he have been influenced by the curse marK?

...

He did not know, and that was troubling him. Before the Chunin Exams Sasuke had been a good friend to Naruto. Well not in the sense of usual friends, but he was the one person that pushed Naruto to get stronger more than anyone else. During their training and competing he had developed a grudging friendship/rivalry with the last Uchiha. Sure he still wanted to kill his brother for what he did to his clan, but he was not as insane to do it as he was now. Naruto wondered if there was something or someone who could do something about it.

Remembering back to the five prong seal suddenly disappearing he remembered he thought that Medivh had removed it. Deciding that he had a plan for tomorrow Naruto headed out of the training ground and back to his apartment.

The next day Naruto did his usual routine of sneaking out of the village and heading to the cave where Medivh was. After going through the opening Medivh was there to greet him like usual.

"You off to your usual routine my dear boy?"

"Well yea but I've got something to ask you Bird-man."

"What do you want to know Naruto?"

"Did you take off a seal that was on my stomach?"

"Yes, it seemed to be disrupting the flow and control of your energy so I removed it."

"So you're good with seals?" Medivh nodded

"Well your seals are a bit different from runes but they are both based on the same principles. I have managed to make it work with a little research and experimentation." This brought Naruto's hopes up

"Is there a way you can look at a curse mark on my friend and remove it?" Medivh took a thinking gesture

"A curse mark eh?...I would have to see this and examine it in order to know what I am up against."

"Well...the thing is I don't know where they are keeping him at the moment..."

"Well my dear boy I suggest you find out where he is being kept before we do anything else...Oh if you are planning to go to Azeroth I recommend you look into some books about runes, you may have to end up helping me." Not really confident he was up to the task of helping with runes Naruto nodded and put it on his list to practice and learn the rules of.

"Well I think I'll let my clones go there today, I'm gonna ask Granny where Sasuke is, see if I can get a visit and get a layout that way I can possibly sneak you in." Medivh smiled and nodded at how his plan would work since Tsunade wouldn't deny him a chance to visit his old teamate.

"Well if you visit wherever he is, and are positive you know the location of your teammate, then I will help you." Naruto grinned at the good news "Thank you again Bird-man." Medivh waved off the praise

"It's a teacher's job to teach the student is it not, so demonstrate for me how you open a portal." stepping up to the center of the room Naruto held out his hands and did the procedure. Faster than last time but still quite slow, the portal expanded and stabilized with it's energies swirling in a myriad of colors.

"I must warn you Naruto, if you try to teleport somewhere you have not been before you will more than likely not succeed and something bad will happen." nodding Naruto didn't feel like experimenting to find out what would happen

"Ok so if I want to port somewhere, make sure I know I've been there, got it." As he held up his hands to make clones Medivh held the head of his staff in front of him

"There is something else boy, I did mean what I said about learning as much as you could about runes, while you could also help me if you learn enough, runes will help you in the long run in more ways than you could imagine." deciding to listen Naruto made a note to devote a large chunk of clones to read books and put into practice what he would learn.

Making his clones Naruto sent them through the portal and went to the Hokage's office.

XXXX

"So you want to go visit Sasuke?"

"Is there a problem with that?"shaking her head she continued."No, in fact Sakura has already visited him a couple times now." He didn't look at Sakura but he did twitch even after all that happened

"Only a few people are allowed to see him and you guys are among them."

"And you would honestly let us see him why?"Tsunade raised an eyebrow."You usually aren't one to complain when things go your way Naruto, though I will say I do have my reasons." in particular she eyed Naruto which he either didn't notice or didn't care.

"So where is exactly is he being kept?"

"He's being kept in the Konoha Ninja Correctional Facility outside the village." Naruto nodded at the choice of his imprisonment, he had no idea what it was but he liked how it sounded

"Sakura has been there before, so she'll take you there." As both of them exited Tsunade yelled at them one last time

"Oh and be sure to get back here when you are done, you don't get to skip out on your missions because of this."

XXXX

Sakura seemed to want to walk in silence and Naruto had no complaints about that. Before when he and Sakura had walked together he had been the one to feel awkward. Now he knew that she felt it too by the way she seemed to twitch from time to time.

Sakura lead Naruto to the seemingly middle of nowhere when they encountered a hole in the ground, a hole so deep Naruto could not see the bottom. The hole by itself was enough to be about a football field in diameter.

Sakura then led him to a rock that didn't seem all that special but when Sakura channeled chakra into it there was a riddle to solve to gain entry.

'When the tree leaves dance' Naruto had no idea what the answer was but he didn't need to as Sakura answered

"One shall find flames." those words appeared on the rock followed by the next part

'The Fire's Shadow will illuminate the village'

"And once again, tree leaves shall bud anew." When those words appeared on the rock there was suddenly a clicking sound, then a door outline appeared and opened for them. It opened to reveal stairs that seemingly lead to the depths of hell if they wanted to.

As they descended the stairs they come across a checkpoint where they were both checked and confiscated of any weapons or kunai they possessed. After that they moved on further and further underground until finally they got through the last door. Naruto was quite surprised by what he saw before him. Naruto realized that the prison must be at the bottom of that hole he saw earlier, oh but that wasn't it. The prison complex itself was weird looking to him. If he were to look at the complex from an aerial view he would see that the complex was in the shape of a triangle, with the bottom flat part of this triangle being where the administration and guards were housed. The center of the triangle appeared to be where the 'yard' for the prisoners was. Naruto and Sakura were on a catwalk that lead to the administration building.

Being led through the front gates of the prison was quite the experience since Naruto thought that it was quite different from any other facility he had seen before. As they entered the main facility they were at a a circular desk that was basically a checkpoint for all the hallways that stretched out from it.

"Wait here." the ninja who had lead them there went and talked to the person behind the desk, after a few seconds the figure behind the desk nodded and their guard waved them forward. Walking through the facility made him wonder how many people were actually criminals in the village. Every cell they had passed so far was occupied by any number of prisoners from ninjas to bandits and even some civilians by the looks of it.

Continuing on Naruto and Sakura were lead through the halls until they were in what he guessed was solitary confinement for ninjas. For every door was thick metal and through the windows he could see people with straight jackets on, though he didn't think they were crazy since these jackets had seals on them.

They finally approached a door to which the guard stood at the side of it.

"You have ten minutes, hokage's orders." both Naruto and Sakura stepped into the cell which was quite different from what Naruto thought it would be. The accommodations were as sparse as could be, with only a bed which basically a metal sheet on four supports. And a dinky little thing he thought was a toilet. Sasuke however was in the corner of the room with a straight jacket, like the ones before, on. He was facing the doorway with his head against the wall, his hair a mess, a dead look in his eyes. However when he saw Naruto thought he saw something twitch, but he did not move from his spot. Naruto was not sure what he should ask, he honestly had come here in order to see how he could possibly get Medivh in here when he remembered what Medivh had said about portals.

"Hello Sasuke-kun, how have you been?" Naruto wondered if it was smart of Sakura to ask that question, but if Sasuke gave indication he didn't show it. Meanwhile Naruto was reaching into the twisting nether and leaving his mark so that he could possibly port him and Medivh here, though this was his first time so he had to concentrate a bit while Sakura continued to try and talk to Sasuke.

"Sasuke they have finally made a decision regarding your sentence." This seemed to get his attention as, while the rest of his body didn't move, his eyes looked towards Sakura interested in his fate.

"They have decided that, until the curse seal can be removed permanently, you are to remain here indefinitely." Sasuke definitely reacted to that as he was suddenly on his feet and trying to make his way towards them as fast as he could with a crazed look in his eyes. The pace he was going however was laughable at best and a genin could have dodged him, which Naruto and Sakura did as he tried to kick out. Naruto guessed it was the seals on his coat along with the room that kept him this weak. Not wanting to rough him up, one to not get in trouble, and two because it would be just pathetic, Naruto dodged one time as Sasuke attempted a lame kick which would have barely made it to his waist and pushed Sasuke's shoulder.

Losing balance Sasuke fell over and hit the ground hard, Naruto thought that he would try to get up again but he saw that Sasuke was just laying there. As Naruto was about to make a smart ass remark Sasuke began to chuckle softly before growing into a full blown laughing hysteria. Naruto was confused but he figured Sasuke was having a mental breakdown so he tapped Sakura on the shoulder and gestured towards the door. She took another look at Sasuke before nodding and both of them left.

XXXX

As Naruto stood before Medivh he saw that he had another of those crystal balls, curiosity got the better of him.

"What's that for Bird-man?" Medivh tossed the ball into the air and caught it "This my boy is going to help me see your memories." he held the stone out to Naruto, who took it, and stared at it wondering how that was gonna happen.

"I want you to recall your whole trip there from start to finish in your head, this special orb will allow me to view the memory." Naruto was impressed at the little sphere so without delay Naruto went about the journey through his head, closing his eyes to get a better visual.

As minutes went on and it showed him and Sakura leaving the prison Medivh finally told him to stop.

"Ok my boy you can stop now." opening his eyes Naruto handed the crystal back to Medivh who made it evaporate into thin air.

"I believe getting to this boy may be easier now thanks to you, with a portal open to his cell directly we have a direct line there and an escape should we need it." thinking on what he should do Medivh brought his hand to his chin

"Naruto do you know anything at all about that curse mark on his shoulder? Any information is helpful, how he got it, anything anyone else has told you." Naruto thought back to the time when Sakura told him about it.

"Well from what I heard, Orochimaru had bitten Sasuke on the neck and after that it was there." Medivh absorbed the information and seemed to be babbling to himself

"Hmmm application by physical contact, breaking of the skin, probably an original creation, anything else?" Naruto then remembered what Tsunade told him

"Oh yea, Granny had said that since Orochimaru did something else later, that the curse mark is now part of Sasuke and if Pervy Sage tries to remove it that there is a chance he could kill him." Medivh nodded with a grim expression on his face

"I was afraid so..."

"So is there anything you can do to remove it?"

"Well I can remove it, but there are multiple facets of this removal that are going to be difficult and life threatening to both him and us." Naruto raised an eyebrow at the 'and us' part.

"What do you mean?"

"Well in order for us to completely remove the curse, we are going to have to remove all traces of it from his body or it could manifest again given time, especially if I believe what I think it is."

"What could it be?"

"From what you described of how he received this mark I believe that this Orochimaru imparted a part of his spirit into this curse mark." this alarmed Naruto

"So I know what I am up against but that also means there is going to be another problem." Naruto groaned

"Don't you have any good news yet?" Medivh, despite the seriousness and thoughts he was thinking, couldn't help but laugh

"Well the good news boy is we have a way there and back. However I feel that in order to fully remove this mark we are going to draw a bit of unnecessary attention."

"How so?"

"Well you know how this curse mark of his was already sealed before?" Naruto nodded "Well I'll have bet since then that they have strengthened that seal's defenses even more to prevent use of it's power." Naruto was not getting how that was bad

"Isn't it good that he can't use it?"

"Yes it is good that he can't use the energy but if we want to remove the curse mark permanently, we are going to have to remove those seals." hearing this made Naruto raise an eyebrow

"Why?"

"Well the seals that are keeping the curse's energy from going further into his body also keep anyone else attempting to access the curse seal out. And once we remove those seals I fear that they will be able to sense that release of energy." Naruto finally got it

"And we would be up to our necks in guards." Medivh nodded as the boy connected the dots

"So here is what we are going to do, you are going to go to Karazhan and keep studying runes until you feel comfortable that you can safely contain his energy after we unseal it. Once you feel we can contain it I will be the one to begin the procedure of purging the essence of the curse. Naruto nodded at what sounded like a sound plan but realized that there were so many things that could go wrong.

"So once I have enough knowledge on runes is when we will remove the curse seal?"

"Yes my boy." It was just then that he suddenly realized what he was going to do, he was planning to break into probably Konoha's most heavily guarded prison, though it was for a good reason, he felt that if they made one wrong move they would be down shit river without a paddle.

"Hey bird-man I know that you made me promise not to tell anyone about you teaching me and stuff, but I've gotta ask, why are you making me keep this a secret? I mean I"m sure if we told Granny and Pervy Sage that you would remove the seal that they would do all they could to help." Medivh sighed at his young students question

"Well I'm afraid I can't answer that right now, but I can say that I am trying to keep my interference with your world as small as I can while I train you."

"Why would you worry about that?"

"Well let's just say that there are beings that would make my and your life much more difficult if they found me." Naruto was about to question what he meant but quelled it as he guessed he probably wouldn't get any more than that, or not like what he would hear.

"So remember boy that for this I am going to need you as much as you need me."

XXXX

A couple of days had passed and Naruto had begun a process of sending more clones than the previous day, one to further condition his reserves to grow bigger and bigger, and the other to learn more and more along with learning about runes. With what the books had taught Naruto, he had his clones experiment on each other as a way to make sure he knew what he was doing.

Much like seals, runes required some form of ink in order to use properly. Though runes could be used at the spur of the moment if the caster willed his energy to form a certain pattern on a physical object, it usually doesn't last long as maintaining the effect of the rune takes a bit of concentration. So the easier and safer way to use runes was to use an ink of sorts and draw the rune manually. The books he read described runes as manifestations of Azeroth's own unique flows of power. From what Naruto could assume, if he compared Azeroth to the human body, Azeroth had veins that led around the world. These veins were called Ley Lines, these Ley lines were basically vessels that carried the life giving and otherwise energies all over the world.

Runes were basically taking certain patterns of ley lines and recreating them on a smaller scale.

For example the ley lines of a scorching desert rendered into a rune might create effects of burning destruction, while those of a deep swampland might create runes of rot or decay.

So as this day finally came to a close, Naruto walked home and decided a good nights sleep was in order before he decided to break into the prison...

'Kami what the hell am I doing.'

So anyway the next day came and Naruto had met Medivh in the cave while his clones did his missions. This time around he brought a few things with him, including a special brush Naruto had gotten with a bit of his money, ink, and a couple small sheets of paper just in case something happened. As he and Medivh prepared for their most daring assault/purge ever Medivh broke the silence.

"Ok boy I have decided how we are going to do this that way we are not dilly dallying while we are there, in order for this to go cleanly and quickly I am going to need your help." Naruto looked at Medivh as he explained their plan.

XXXX

The guard patrolling the halls of the Correctional facility yawned as he did his patrol, his supervisor had told him there was a release of chakra in the traitor's cell. Walking over to the window in the door he looked in and saw the traitor lying on his bed facing the wall away from the door. Looking around the cell through the window to make sure nothing was wrong, he shrugged when he saw nothing out of place and went to report to his supervisor.

In the corner away from the door Medivh was standing back against the wall next to Naruto who had his hand in the air as if pushing down something while thanking Kami that Sasuke hadn't gotten off a yell. As they heard the guard shrug and walk on both he and Medivh let out a sigh.

"Well that could have gone better Bird-man." Medivh did not even glance at his companion before responding "It also could have gone a lot worse dear boy."

"Point taken."

"Moving on, hurry and bring him over here, I must take a close look at it." Lifting his hand Sasuke's body lifted through the air and hovered over to them, an angry glare on his features Naruto made sure to keep his mouth shut.

"Hmm now I just need to find a way to keep him still after I release him." Suddenly the owl of Medivh's staff collided with Sasuke's head, Sasuke did not even see it coming as he quickly lost consciousness. Naruto looked down at the Uchiha before looking at Medivh who just smiled.

"I love that you're my sensei." Medivh chuckled lightly before moving the Uchiha to where the shoulder with his curse mark was visible.

Naruto did a hand-sign and was about to create a clone when Medivh's hand clamped down on both of his hands.

"What is it?" Medivh glanced around the room before tapping the ground with his staff and closing his eyes. A few seconds later he nodded "Just as I thought."

"What?" Medivh gestured with his staff to the surrounding walls."These walls have seals that will, I assume, alert guards to any use of a certain amount of chakra in the air, which your clones are."

"So what are we gonna do if that guard comes back around?" by instinct Naruto carefully looked out the window to make sure no one was coming

"We are going to have to time this very carefully Naruto, I want you to stay there and sense when a guard is coming, when he comes back and passes us, we will begin." Naruto did not like the sound of it since it came down to chance.

"Can't we just take him back through the portal and do it?" Medivh shook his head as he continued to examine the curse mark

"If he is taken out of this cell without someone from this facility doing it, I feel that they would know he was gone and how to track him." Naruto sighed and did what he was told as he expanded his senses, while Medivh seemed to be scrutinizing the curse mark along with the seals surrounding it. Now in addition to the original seal Kakashi had used, Naruto had noticed that there was now a more elaborate seal surrounding the first seal. It had been a few minutes and Naruto suddenly felt a guard coming down the hall.

Gesturing towards Medivh, Naruto pointed down the hall in which the guard was coming from. Nodding Medivh put Sasuke back in his bed and joined Naruto by the wall. Hearing the footsteps as well as sensing him walk to the end of the hall both Naruto and Medivh both took one last deep breath and with a wordless gesture they both moved. Naruto moved in first pulling out his brush and ink and beginning his work. Stroking quickly and deftly Naruto finished the basic pattern before moving on and constructing the more elaborate one around that one.

Runes worked on the system that in order to make a rune stronger and more complex, you had to start from the bottom and work your way up. For instance Naruto was drawing a pattern of containment which would hopefully keep the curse from spreading anymore. Finishing the first pattern Naruto quickly began adding more and more complex patterns until he was on the final tier that he knew. Putting his fingers to the seal and inserting Chakra into it, wincing as he expected something bad to happen.

Naruto looked around and grinned before going back to his work. Naruto used his senses and felt around the curse mark area for the sealed off parts. His job was to make sure that once they were released, they wouldn't go even a step without running into his shield. Carefully enveloping the sealed off curse area with his barrier Naruto pushed more chakra in to strengthen it until he felt his rune couldn't take anymore, to which he checked his work one more time, then signaled Medivh. Putting his staff next to the bed Medivh rolled up his sleeves before holding his right hand over the curse mark and seals.

"Are you ready?" Naruto nodded as he kept the flow of chakra constant. Taking a deep breath Medivh stretched his hand out to it's maximum before beginning his work. A few seconds past and a rune that was visible within his skin materialized before he put his hand directly onto Sasuke's skin. Taking another deep breath Medivh transferred the rune from his hand onto the seals. Almost immediately a small hissing sound, not audible except if you were really listening, lasted a few seconds before Naruto knew that it wasn't sealed anymore.

How did he know this? Well with the release of it's seal the curse mark attempted to move out and expand only to collide with Naruto's barrier. As they did Naruto suddenly felt his barrier begin to weaken on all sides, quickly reacting he pushed more chakra into the rune in an attempt to restore the barrier. Doing this worked but he had to keep up a constant flow to do it, and before long the curse mark was even trying different things. It would push against one side for a bit before suddenly attempting to pierce through another side with double the force, as it seemed to be learning Naruto had a harder and harder time containing it, the curse seal seemed to be alive.

This had lasted only a couple minutes but as the part of Orochimaru kept attempting to get out Naruto knew that Medivh would have to be done soon or else it would expand and they wouldn't ever be able to purge it. As Naruto managed to force back the curse another time and began reforming his barrier Medivh got a furrowed look on his face, sweating a bit Naruto was not liking this look.

"Please tell me you don't have bad news..."

"I'm afraid I do...Unless I remove a sample from the body I won't be able to create what I need to destroy it." Naruto was about to ask him why not when he remembered what he said earlier about the seals.

"Oh shit...you mean?" Medivh nodded still with his eyes closed

"I am going to to take a part of the heart out, but I feel this will also alert them." Naruto sighed at having to ask this next question

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Well It'll take me a couple minutes at most, but I feel they will respond before then." Naruto looked at the door understanding now

"Just tell me when Bird-man." unfrurrowing his eyebrow Medivh shifted before pulling his hand back while the other took it's place on Sasuke's skin to help Naruto if he needed it. Floating in the palm of his hand was a dark purple shred of chakra, but when Naruto probed it he felt it was much more than that, it was a piece of the heart of the curse seal. This little piece of energy seemed dampen the room with it's malevolence.

Knocked out of his sensing by several footsteps coming down the hallway Naruto cursed at their quick reaction time before making several clones with his spare hand. Together they moved and attempted to make the door more secure. Naruto said a couple words before a darkness moved out of his hands and covered the window view.

Another clone at the same time pulled water out of the air and froze it as a thin layer over the wall and through the door to where the door was now covered and even the slightest attempt to open it was met with resistance. Moving even another step further, the original Naruto tossed his ink and brush to another clone which began doing a shield rune on top of the ice, after finishing what he knew, which wasn't as much as he would have liked, about the rune Naruto activated it with chakra and the ice glowed for a second before the wall rumbled slightly.

"They're trying to get in Bird-man."

"I can see that my dear boy but please be quiet while I do this." As the minutes went by Naruto was continuing to have a tough time holding back the curse seal, and now that he looked at Medivh, he could see he was sweating now a bit too from doing whatever he was doing with the heart, the guards outside didn't stand idle either. As time went on they seemed to using more and more destructive techniques and physical attacks. His ice barrier was holding with the rune keeping it intact alot easier than he thought it would, but he could tell by the slowly deteriorating form of the rune that unless they hurried they would eventually break through.

Naruto was getting worried that they wouldn't be able to do it in time when Medivh broke his thoughts.

"Got it!" Grinning, thanking kami, Naruto watched as Medivh held his hand with the heart back over the curse seal and made contact. After a few seconds nothing happened and Naruto was about to ask if it worked when he suddenly saw the marks on Sasuke's skin begin to spaz out making like an inkblot and going all over the place. After a couple more seconds the mark was starting to dissolve.

"It's working!" it was dissolving at a steady pace and by what Naruto guessed, it would be done in about thirty seconds.

"Ok move aside let a lady through!" he wasn't sure if it was going to be fast enough now...

"What the hell is Granny doing here?" bringing his voice down to a whisper Naruto was now scared that he would be found out

"Naruto this is going to take about 20 more seconds, do you think the door will hold?" Naruto was about to respond when all of a sudden he felt the whole room shake. He didn't stumble, but he knew that Tsunade was definitely up to bat.

"We'll have to hope so." as the seconds ticked by Naruto felt as if they were hours, every couple of seconds he would feel the room vibrate even more than the last one. Naruto kept trying to repair the rune on the door but he knew that soon Tsunade would hit with enough impact to shatter the whole side of the prison complex if she wanted too. Come to think of it he should have been stunned at how much this rune was holding up, but as he did Tsunade made another hit and half of the rune disappeared.

"Done!" Naruto had never been happier to hear that word in his whole life. As he saw the last vestiges of the mark disappear Sasuke seemed to unconsciously take a deep breath before settling back down. Stopping his rune and taking out his chakra Naruto wiped away the ink and Medivh opened up the portal. Naruto quickly threw Sasuke on his bed before heading over to Medivh and running through the portal, Medivh quickly behind him. As the portal closed and Naruto's clones dispelled the door and part of the wall gave in at last in a big bang, thankfully the last remaining power of the rune managed to keep her from destroying part of the facility, it still did not save Sasuke's room. The door was nearly bent in half upon impact and sent flying into the back wall as Tsunade and the rest of the guards rushed in.

XXXX


	9. Chapter 9

XXXX

Naruto stumbled through the portal nearly tripping on air as he got into the room. Medivh came through next, though he did it with much more grace. Naruto had his hands on his knees and was breathing heavily, he wasn't tired but the adrenaline running through his system was slowly starting to dissipate.

"Well my dear boy...we did it." Naruto let out a little laugh

"I hope we did, for our sakes."

"Don't worry, with what I did to that curse there should be no trace left."

"Thank Kami for that, so what happens now?" finally standing back up Medivh looked him in the eye

"Well now you must get back to your village and stay there for a while. With what just happened they may think it was an inside job." Naruto got it from there.

"Ok I'll do that, when will I know when I can go back to Karazhan?" Medivh just smiled

"I'll let you know boy."

XXXX

Hanabi Hyuuga had been walking down the street along with her sister Hinata. After another morning lesson from her father she was given some time off until the next session, which would probably be that afternoon. The lessons themselves were grueling as she had to spar with her father most of the time to learn through combat, but they weren't nothing she couldn't handle. That didn't mean they weren't exhausting though. And since Hinata was in the village for the time being, she decided they should go and have lunch, meaning she was dragged out of the estate.

Hanabi wasn't exactly the most sociable person since she had basically been raised her whole life in the estate while Hinata was naturally shy. This combination didn't exactly lead to many conversations between the two. Hanabi did love her sister and she knew that Hinata loved her, but their relationship had been a bit off from ideal. Hinata had, at first, been the one that seemed to be next in line for clan head. But when her training hadn't advanced at the pace that was set before her by her father she had basically become a stepping stone for Hanabi. Everything Hinata did had been in comparison to Hanabi to see how strong she was becoming. Unlike her sister however, Hanabi was not insecure about herself in the slightest. This allowed her to show more of her true strength than her sister.

So anyway the two of them were walking along a street that ran parallel to the village wall and were getting close to the front gate when Hanabi spoke up.

"Neji-niisan refuses to stay in bed, he won't stop trying to find some way to train." Hanabi was one of the few people Hinata talked rather openly too, though still in her quiet tone.

"Well you know how he is, especially after that fight with Naruto-kun."

"If he keeps it up at this rate he'll be back in the hospital for some new injury." Hinata was about to respond when an orange blur came running into the village through the gate they were about to pass. As both of them realized it was Naruto Hinata blushed and Hanabi's curiosity was piqued

"Speak of the devil." Hanabi looked towards Hinata to see her watching him jump off across the village. She sighed as she watched her sister stare at her crush rush off to wherever he was headed.

"You know if you don't say something to him sooner or later he will forget you exist." Even with her blunt tone Hinata seemed to be in her own little world. Getting tired really quickly Hanabi snapped her fingers in front of her sisters face and watched her come back to her senses.

"Huh wha?" Hanabi sighed before gesturing to her sister

"Come on let's go we don't have all day." Hinata walked faster to catch up to her little sister as they both went on their way.

XXXX

For the most part Naruto just went through the motions with his D Missions, though he would continually imagine something happening where he would suddenly be surrounded and arrested. However, nothing had happened for the rest of the day. It had actually been a bit of an easier day for him and so after they had finished their mission Naruto decided it was time to go relax a bit.

Getting his usual bowls of ramen from Ichiraku then heading back to his apartment Naruto got a bath ready and just soaked in it glad be relaxing, training really does take a toll after all, and so enjoying every second of his bath Naruto then got in his PJ's and hit the hay.

XXXX

Tsunade was sitting back in her office with the leader of the investigation into the prison. The man was not a ninja at all when it came to physical ability, but his mind more then made up for that as a criminal investigator. Tsunade had assigned him to find out whatever he could about the break in and give a report, now was the time for that report.

"Report." The investigator fidgeted a little under her gaze

"Of course Hokage-sama, at exactly 0927 hours chakra from the curse seal had been detected by one of the seals installed in the cell. Guards moved in almost immediately to restrain the prisoner only to be barred at the door. The window had been blocked somehow making visibility into the cell from the window impossible. And until you showed up no matter of technique was able to open the door."

"I've got that already, what progress have you made to find out who did it?"

"Well ma'am we know two things, there was no visible entry or exit and that they removed the curse seal. There was one clue left behind at the scene however." he held up a paper bag and inside was a brush and ink container." Tsunade raised her eyebrow at the items commonly used in the sealing area.

"As you no doubt have guessed by now we are assuming that the culprit used seals of some magnitude in order to prevent our entry, though with ice in the room as well that could possibly prove it wrong." Tsunade sighed

"Have that piece of evidence examined and any information whatsoever found out and reported at once."

XXXX

It had been a few days since the break-in and Naruto was set back in his usual routine. Get up go do missions for most of the day, train for the rest of the afternoon, eat dinner and go to bed. Falling back into a routine made the days pass quickly for Naruto while he and Sakura continued to be like strangers to each other.

It had been almost a week since then and Naruto was waking up for another day of manual la.. I mean D-ranked missions. After getting out of the shower and getting dressed Naruto walked back through his bedroom door into the kitchen. Yawning Naruto passed his table.

"Good Morning dear child."

"'yawn' Good morning Bird-Man." opening the ramen cup he stopped halfway and realized what was up now. He would have freaked out but realizing who it was he relaxed.

"So what's up Bird-man is it safe to go back yet? It is getting really boring around here since Granny still refuses to send me on higher ranked missions." Medivh laughed in his chair at the table.

"Yes my boy it is now suitably safe, I have been able to find that they have finished the investigation into the break in for now. I would be careful this time around, many things have changed back in your area of Azeroth." This should have gotten Naruto interested but instead it got him angsty about what he could possibly mean.

"You know I can sort of get how you know information about my world what with your magic and all but how do you know what's going on in your world since you said you left it for good."

"I have to give you information from time to time somehow don't I? Lets just say it's my little secret. So be ready for anything out there." Nodding Naruto sent out a clone to go to Tsunade while he took his time finishing his meal. The two made some small talk while Naruto finished, then afterwards Medivh ported both of them to the cavern and Naruto was through.

On the other side Naruto got to work making the most of his time. Making alot of clones to make up for not being there for a couple of days he sent them out to the various residents of the valley. On the other hand he started his usual training with some different techniques along with his physical training. He had just gotten started when he got a memory from one of his clones, squinting Naruto went outside the tower and walked to the ogre compound. One thing he noticed was that there were actually some of the Harpies in the camp. Not alot in comparison to the ogres but enough to be noticeable. Walking up to Gurunk, who he recognized because of the flail on his back, Naruto spoke up.

"What's goin on Gurunk?" Hearing the voice Gurunk turned around and grinned

"Oi' boss it's you! We was worried that you wouldn't be back." Naruto grinned slightly

"Let's just say I hit a snag for a little while."

"You should enlighten us sometime then human." hearing that familiar voice Naruto leaned to the side looked past Gurunk's bulk to notice that Podarge was there too.

"Nice to see you too Podarge." she let out a meh before speaking up again.

"Well human it seems it took you a while but you were correct in your deal, I am surprised at your magic though, multiples of you is quite a feat." Naruto grinned at the praise

"So how did all of this?" he gestured to several mixed species groups."Happen?" Podarge glanced at Gurunk before continuing

"Well Human I decided that if we are going to share this home than we might as well come to an understanding, you did not show up for the last few days when we needed your help." Naruto had the decency to blush

"Uhhh yea, sorry about that but I had something important to do and I couldn't be here."

"Luckily your...chieftan was nice enough to help out when he felt like it." Naruto looked surprised at Gurunk only to see him shrug.

"Well boss said he would help you so I do what the boss does..." Naruto was honestly surprised, but there were so many more things that would probably surprise him later so he shrugged.

"Well yea anyway I'm sorry about not showing up, but don't worry I should be able to help from now on." Podarge accepted that with a nod

"So other than you guys getting along is there anything else that happened?"

"Actually you might be interested to know about the humans in the land next over." Naruto raised an eyebrow

"What about them?"

"Well my sisters that have flown over have witnessed humans fighting other humans quite often, perhaps something has happened?" Naruto looked concerned and decided that would be the first thing that he would do.

"Well I'll go see what is up then, you need anything?" Podarge's eyes lit up for a split second

"I'm sure I could find something for you to do." Naruto shuddered before making his clones and heading out along the trail towards Duskwood.

As he walked he marveled at how peaceful the valley looked, with new vegetation growing at a remarkable rate, from grass to bushes and trees he wasn't sure what would come next. Then came the odd part, it seemed that whenever deadwind pass ended and Duskwood began the clouds covered Duskwood onward. As he walked down the trail and into town he noticed something odd. One was the lack of guards, there were usually alot more than he could see at the moment. That and some of them were no more than civilians with improvised weapons. Looking at them as they maneuvered around to do whatever he went into town and walked up to the nearest person.

"Hey what's going on?" The person turned and immediately recognized the boy

"Hey Naruto it is you, thank the light! The Defias Brotherhood are trying to move their operation into Duskwood. I don't know much but all the Night Watch were gathered and are now attempting to push them back." Naruto didn't know what this Brotherhood was but he guessed it was bad news.

"Where is Ebonlocke?"

"She and the rest of the Night watch are down the trail you should see if you can help."

"What about you guys?" The civilan shrugged and lofted his sword

"We are not as frail as we seem. We've been living here for most of our lives so the weak are quickly toughened up or weeded out." The harshness of the woods suddenly sank in and he had a new found respect for these people.

"So yea go ask one of the guards to take you to the commander and she should have something for you." Naruto nodded and walked up to a guard

"Hey can you take me to the commander?" The guard's eyes widened in recognition as he looked at Naruto

"Of course, the commander could use all the help she can get. Follow me and we'll try to make good time."

The man started jogging out of the village with Naruto close on his heels, he could have gone faster but decided to stick with the man just in case.

XXXX

He and his unit had been sent ahead to cause as much havoc as they could while their main force was held up by those pathetic Night Watch. As they moved along the side of the forest road in the shadows. Quickly holding up his hand his unit halted and took cover behind trees that were facing the road. Looking out past the tree he could see one of those guards making their way down the path towards the front, along side him was a kid...odd.

But that didn't matter anyhow, both were targets of opportunity and with reinforcements occupied ahead of them how could they mess this up...

XXXX

Naruto and the guard had gone along the trail for a couple minutes when he sensed something in the forest. Looking back and forth Naruto suddenly heard something unnatural.

"Fwoosh!"

Reacting on instinct Naruto raised his hand towards the direction of the sound and his barrier popped into place. Feeling a couple of heavy impacts bounce off his shield Naruto turned to the guard to see that he had blocked with his shield. Looking in the direction of the forest Naruto saw someone move back around the trunk of a tree. Quickly thinking Naruto made two clones and grabbed an arm of each before spinning once and throwing one into the branches of the tree and the other towards opening next to the tree. The clone had landed and taken two steps when was nearly taken off at the head by a sword. Thanks to his quick reflexes though, he was able to duck under the swing and avoid damage. Doing a 180 Naruto managed to sweep the attacker off his feet, following through Naruto brought his hand up in an open palmed strike to the gut and let out a wave of kinetic force as he made contact with flesh.

XXXX

The plan didn't work as she suddenly saw the boy multiply and move to engage them. The shots should have hit their mark but the boy had quick reflexes along with magic. As soon as they had gone back in cover the boy was on them. She had just put the one in the trees in the sight of her crossbow when she heard a scream and a loud crunch. Quickly glancing to her right she saw that her captain had been catapulted into a tree.

Putting her eyes back on her opponents she took aim at the one at the tree. Letting lose a bolt the boy dodged with agility that would made other rogues look like elephants in comparison, quickly she made an attempt to reload her crossbow. After dodging the boy was now making his way towards her with surprising speed. Forgoing her crossbow she took out her twin daggers from her belt and waiting for the boy to get in range.

XXXX

Naruto had dodged the attacks that were fired at him and was now moving to engage the one female of the group. Before he could engage her however she had pulled out two curved daggers and was waiting for him. Not one to keep people waiting he rushed in and attempted a spinning roundhouse kick.

Trying to intercept his attack with her daggers she succeeded in deflecting his attack and turning the force to her side, but as she went to backstab him he suddenly ducked and spun around causing her to miss but at the same give him an opportunity to attack. Throwing a punch into her gut the air was forced from her lungs, grimacing she attempted to stab the target that was now right in front of her face but was slow as the target suddenly disappeared. Feeling a grip on her waist she was suddenly flung spinning through the air until she hit the ground hard nearly knocking her unconcious

Naruto did not like to hit girls, but when it was either him or them he would usually choose him any day of the week. He did not have time to gloat however as the three other members of the group started to engage him.

A little green creature with pointed ears and wielding a mace along with a dagger was now upon him. He was dodging the little guys attacks but he had agility for one so small and scrawny, he was constantly kept on the defensive until the other clone came into play. Speaking a few words the clone pulled his hands back and thrust them forward as if pushing something. Out of the hands came a fierce wind that blew one of the other humans across the forest, the other one barely holding his ground. The goblin became distracted enough however for Naruto to make a move. Moving fast, Naruto reared his leg back and punted the little guy with all of his might. He nearly laughed at how hilarious it was as the goblin flew through the air and landed quite a distance away. He looked back to the last human that was getting up, but before he could make a move his clone beat him to it.

This was not supposed to be happening, one guard and a kid should have been easy pickings but instead now they were getting their asses kicked. Trying to get up and hopefully get away the man looked up in time to see one of the kids do a fancy kick to nothing in front of him. He was about to think about how stupid this kid was when all of a sudden he was sent flying into the air and smashing head first into a tree.

Naruto panted as he finished off the last of the group. Looking at the damage Naruto commanded his clones to get the bodies and made 3 more to help out. As he watched his clones go about their work he saw the guard looking on in awe.

"Wow...I know that you beat Patches and those Worgen but seeing what you did now...puts you on a whole other level." Naruto grinned at the praise and watched as the last of the attackers was gathered.

"That was probably an advanced party, the brotherhood are managing to get past the main force. We should hurry and get there quick." Agreeing, Naruto and the man made their way towards the front.

XXXX

Arriving at the front Naruto looked around at all the activity. The Night Watch were set up at a 3 way intersection with 2 barricades set up, though one was more heavily manned than the other. Back towards Duskwood off the road to the side was what looked like a barracks of tents and many other tents which he guessed played different functions such as armorers and the such. Seeing Althea at the center of the intersection at what looked like a table was pointing at what he guessed was a map.

" I'm guessing you've already seen the commander over there, I would go and check in to see if there's something you can do." with clones behind him Naruto walked up to the table and waited for her to stop talking.

"The Ogre mages are going to be a major obstacle for any team we try to infiltrate into the ogre mound, I don't need to remind you all that with the Ogres now in cohorts with the Brotherhood we have a much steeper task in pushing them back. But with them occupied at Raven Hill for the foreseeable future we may find an opportunity soon. For now all we can do is hold out until we get word from any of the missives we sent out. You all have your orders, dismissed." all of the people at the table nodded before walking to their respective places.

Seeing that the meeting was over Naruto decided now was a good time.

"It's good to see you again Commander." Althea turned towards the voice and her eyes widened

"Naruto? is that you?"

"In the flesh, would be nice to say it was at a better time but..."

"Ah yes...a while after you left the Defias Brotherhood began another attempt to extend themselves into Duskwood."

"How are they doing?" Althea sighed before responding

"Honestly the only reason we haven't been overrun yet is because the undead at Raven hill and the Sorcerer that command them are putting up a fight."

"Why would they want to move in here anyway? It's not like there is alot here...no offfense."

"None taken, though clearly you don't know about the mines in the south. If they get access to those they will be able to produce alot more goods and weapons. We can't let them do that or else who knows what else they would be able to accomplish. Though without reinforcements I fear that even with your help we wont be able to push them all back."

"How many are there?"

"From our estimates we guess that the enemy numbers around two thousand roughly, though with the ogres now on their side their numbers are more like three thousand now." The numbers danced in Naruto's head and he nodded

"What about your forces?" Althea looked off towards where he guessed the enemy was and kept talking.

"Right now with casualties and all, I'm estimating we have about seven hundred in fighting condition, not anywhere near enough to be able to push them back." Naruto raised an eyebrow

"What was that about pushing them out of duskwood then?" she laughed slightly

"Humans tend to fight better if you give them hope don't you think?" Naruto thought for a second and had to agree, given motivation humans could do a many number of things, but against those numbers he wasn't sure they could do it without suffering massive, if not total casualties. Thinking for a second Naruto thought of something, anything he could do, until it suddenly clicked and he smiled. Althea noticed and wasn't sure whether to be happy or scared

"So I'm guessing you have something in mind then Naruto?" Naruto nodded but then remembered how the ogres and humans hadn't necessarily gotten along before.

"I do...but I'm not sure how it'll work..." Althea however looked hopeful

"If you any ideas whatsoever I'm all ears." Naruto sighed before going into an explanation

"You see I was made chieftan of the ogres of Deadwind Pass..." going from there Naruto explained the situation with his clan and the possiblity of them helping...or at least fighting something other than the Night Watch.

"With my clan as more reinforcements we should be able to bolster your ranks even more."

"I'm not sure Naruto, the fact that you were able to become chieftan of the ogres is quite a feat in itself, however getting them to fight alongside humans...I don't see how it could last."

"Well they have been itching for a fight lately so they will be jumping for a chance at battle, if all else fails we could get them by themselves and say attack everything in front of you." Althea nodded, the idea of ogres fighting with humans was quite an odd one but at this point she wasn't one to be picky

"Well...ok, but I'll need to talk to them first." Naruto smiled and nodded before holding out his hand and opening up a portal.

"One second Naruto." running off she suddenly dragged a man wearing a purple robe and questioning her the whole time.

"Commander what am I doing? Where are we going?"

"We, Marcus, are going somewhere and I need you around in case something happens." she didn't say what but Naruto guessed it was something to do with a quick escape, him being a mage and all.

Althea pushed Marcus through the portal and followed suite. Walking in after her Naruto watched as Althea looked slightly disoriented while the mage looked just fine. After waiting around for a bit she finally took note of her surroundings along with her new companion.

"Where are we Naruto?" Naruto started walking towards the door in response. Unsure of what to do Althea looked to the mage who looked back at her. Shrugging she followed Naruto out the door, with the mage hurrying to catch up.

Naruto watched as they both shielded their eyes from the sunlight, looking around Althea seemed confused at first but when she looked up at where they just came out of it suddenly clicked

"We were in Karazhan weren't we..." Naruto nodded

"Bingo, now lets hurry, the Defias won't wait forever." Walking off towards the entrance to the ogre camp Naruto saw Althea and the mage looking in awe at the surroundings around them.

"Hey Naruto how did..." when two guards sitting there saw Althea and the mage they yelled a battle cry before charging at them.

Althea drew her sword and shield while the mage grabbed his staff, sighing Naruto thrust his hands towards the two guards. Both suddenly crashed into the wall behind them and were dazed for a second. Naruto began walking towards them

"They are with me you two..." both got the point as they nodded and stood there eyeing the two strangers next to their boss. Looking back at his companions Naruto noticed expressions of awe from the mage and Althea.

"You coming guys?" snapping out of it they both warily walked past the guards who eyed them the whole way.

They moved towards the main tent which had been claimed to be Naruto's, but he let Gurunk use it. Naruto looked around until he saw an ogre with an eye patch.

"Hey Gurunk I'm back." turning from some of his comrades and a couple of his clones Gurunk smiled before looking at the others who were with him

"Hey boss who are da udder humies?"

"This one, can finally get you guys a good fight you haven been wanting." Naruto smiled as all the ogres within hearing range turned towards her with hopeful looks. Suddenly getting a bit nervous Althea walked forward towards Gurunk.

"Uhh yes well, The Defias Brotherhood have began an invasion of Duskwood and we are not going to be able to beat them back without some help so..."

"Uhh Commander?"

"Ya?" Naruto pointed to Gurunk who was rallying the ogres into a frenzy

"I think they agree..."

"Wow...and I even had a speech...talk about anti-climactic."

"And what about us human? Do you plan on asking us too?" Naruto looked behind him and saw Podarge land with a quick flap from her wings to slow her descent. Althea and the mage had looked nervous for a second before going wide eyed again at what this kid had pulled off.

"Well the Ogres kind of live for a fight so I figured I could get them to help out, but you guys don't really do that, so I won't force you into it." Podarge laughed at the kid's gesture of kindness

"I must say if you think we will not take this opportunity for some spoils human, you don't know much about us at all." Naruto smiled and nodded while turning back to Althea.

"Well you got your reinforcements..."

XXXX

Naruto looked over the tactical map again and was thinking of possibilities to put into action. Around him Althea, Gurunk, and Podarge, along with their respective retinues were discussing what they thought they could do. Even with the Ogres and the Harpys as their allies Naruto knew they were still outnumbered quite a bit. But with his clones he figured that would even it out a bit more. From what he learned from skirmishes and ambushes they had put into place, they were in for no simple task. Going into battle with him against a couple dozen or even a hundred enemies was something he was used to planning for, but this was a whole new scale for him. There were hundreds of lives at stake and thousands of enemies that wanted to kill them. Even with his clones Naruto had never been in a fight like this before. He would have to have a whole different mind set for this kind of battle.

"Gah why don't we jus go attack dose humies already! Sitting around here is borin!" Althea sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time, which to be honest was actually quite close.

"We've been over this ogre, even with all of you we are still outnumbered, a charge at this moment would not drive them out and would likely backfire."

"We can't just sit here either though..." Naruto had finally decided to join the conversation

"If we give them too long they may overwhelm the undead and then move onto us." She would say something against him but she knew he was right too.

"What do you suggest we do then?" Naruto pointed at the map where the enemy ogre mound was.

"Before we do anything we have to remove this obstacle, the ogres will make any attempt to make an actual assault on the Brotherhood that much harder. If we can remove them as a threat we could move from there."

"But to remove them would cost way too many men, and even after that we would have to mount an assault immediately on the brotherhoods flank, or else they would find out and reform their flank."

"Why not just beat dere boss, boss?" Naruto looked at Gurunk for a second wondering what he meant but then it dawned him and looked at Althea, who seemed confused.

"Althea! We've got our way around the obstacle!" She looked at him for a second before he went into his explanation

XXXX

Today had been a boring day, no humies to kill and he was forced to stay in the camp all day. He was about to go crazy when all of a sudden a small humie approached the road, Finally! He had found his distraction, letting out a war cry and charging he went for an overhead smash but before he could finish a great force hit his head knocking him over and making him see stars. Looking back up slowly he saw that the humey was gone. Checking around again he was about to give up when he heard yelling.

Naruto made his way towards the back of the camp where the cave was, according to reports this was where the leader was. Landing at the edge of the cave Naruto took a big breath.

"I CHALLENGE DA LEADER OF DIS CLAN TO A FIGHT! UNLESS HE'S A SCARED LITTLE HUMEY!" Naruto cleared his throat after the declaration. Ogres all around him were moving closer and drawing within striking range until a voice stopped them.

"OI' WHO'S DA GIT DAT CHALLENGES GLUBTOK! I'LL BURN DA FLESH FROM YUR BONES!"

Out of the cave an ogre, obviously the chieftan, walked into the fray. However he noticed a few different things different than the other ogres. One he was dressed differently with red cloth appendages acting as clothes instead of armor, the other was he possessed two heads instead of one.

Naruto would have retorted again but was stopped as he felt a build up of energy, leaping to the left Naruto dodged a wall of fire that rushed past. Reacting, Naruto created half a dozen clones and sent them at Glubtok before throwing two handfuls of kunai at him.

Glubtok reacted quicker than he thought by pulling up a barrier similar to his which knocked away all the kunai, while all around him the clones spread out and began to attack only for one of them to be punched by Glubtok, not just a regular fist either. His fists were covered in fire which seemed to flare after each punch. As the clones attempted to attack in what ways they could Glubtok began to viciously punch anything in range of him already taking down two more clones. Naruto spoke a few words while gathering his chakra, in between his hands a ball of fire formed forcing the fire to condense and spin Naruto then threw the attack at Glubtok. As said Ogre looked at the technique he pulled up a barrier enough to intercept it before it hit. An explosion of fire energy burst forward enveloping the ogre and a couple of the clones in the process.

Waiting for the smoke to clear Naruto tensed up waiting for the shape of the ogre to reveal itself, and it did not disappoint. Out of the smoke the Chieftan appeared intact, but not totally unharmed. Burns covered alot of his midsection, but from what Naruto knew from personal experience, that would not hinder the ogre enough to notice. Suddenly both heads of the Ogre grimaced, instead of fire now enveloping his hands it seemed ice now enveloped them. Naruto made a couple more clones before reciting another spell to use. As the clones got closer Glubtok released a cone of that frost energy colliding with several of the new clones dispersing them.

Naruto, not to be outdone, waved his hands around in a flourish before thrusting his right hand out towards the chieftan around his hand shot out water tendrils shooting out in a ever spinning double heelix pattern without being interconnected. Glubtok, repeating the same action from before, thrust one hand out and released a cone of ice energy freezing the water in mid-air, that did not stop however as the ice heelix continued on and latched onto Glubtok's arm. Naruto, moving quickly, wove a spell and released it. As the spell took effect the ice on Glubtok's arm began to grow and expand.

Suddenly seeing the threat Glubtok began to claw at the ice, but it just continued to grow not matter how much he hit it. Thinking fast Glubtok made his left hand covered in fire and then started to bash away at it. It took a few hits but he finally got it off his arm. Looking back to the fight Glubtok only had a second to see Naruto land before it was over.

Naruto, using the ice as a distraction, rushed forward gathered fire energy into his hand increasing it and condensing it. Landing in front of Glubtok Naruto saw that the Ogre had just noticed him, pity him. Naruto thrust his hand forward and stopped a couple of feet from Glubtok. Releasing the fire energy in a forward cone similar to Glubtok's ice attack Naruto could feel the heat come off his technique as it incinerated the chieftan's body. Glubtok didn't even have time to scream as his body was all but charred remains after Naruto released his technique. The charred remains of the former chieftan fell backwards at the mouth of the cave and landed with a thud.

The sound of searing flesh in the background, Naruto turned and surveyed the camp.

"I'm the boss now! Anyone got a problem with that, step forward!..." Ogres looked around at eachother in shock, none knowing what to do.

One brave ogre had taken half a step before Naruto unleashed a wave of kinetic energy that collided with said Ogre's head, knocking him off his feet.

"Anyone else?" None of the ogres moved. Nodding Naruto created a clone before rushing off to set their plan in motion before a response could be mustered.

Glancing into the treeline surrounding the ogre pit Naruto saw several shadows quickly make their way away from the scene.

XXXX

Fast-walking around the lines three distinct groups could be seen gathering their strength. The Night Watch, which consisted of humans, were making sure their weapons, armor, and shields were all in good condition. The Ogres, which outnumbered the Night Watch slightly, were getting restless just sitting around. Some were fiddling with their weapons while others were looking around curiously, considering the Ogres didn't have the quality weapons and armor of the more civilized races, they did not have much to maintain, which was probably something Naruto could attempt to change later. And lastly were the Harpies, which were the least numerous of the group, but with their ability to fly and some of them able to use magic Naruto knew they would be able to hold their own.

The plan so far had revolved around getting the ogres out of the way, once that was done they could set their real plan into motion. The enemy had been split up into tree distinct groups, the main base at the town of raven hill, the cemetery where the main battlefield was, and a small perimeter keeping the road between the two safe. The plan that had been established was quite simple, it was the distribution of forces that was going to be different. The two flanking groups for the main base and the graveyard were going to be the most reinforced of the groups. Attempting to evenly split up the numbers among three distinct groups was a challenge but more emphasis was placed on the flanks than the center, after all the main battlefield was where most of the brotherhood was occupied and the main camp was in distance of reinforcements from down the road.

Scouting done by Naruto had revealed that the forest line along the graveyard was the perfect place to go if they hurried.

"Althea, he's dead! Move now!"

Signalling to various sargents and leaders of the various races they began to move towards the various Narutos that had portals up to specific places around the battlefield. As human squads, Ogre mobs, and Harpies moved through the portals a storm seemed to brew overhead as if preparing for the upcoming battle.

XXXX

He had been assigned a guard position over the supply line which basically meant he was to watch over the nonexistent enemy that would attempt to attack. A rain drop hit his knee as he sat there. Slowly but surely it began to rain harder and harder until he was sopping wet. He had been bored out of his mind fiddling with his crossbow when he thought he saw something move in the tree line. Looking carefully he squinted through the rain making sure he didn't see anything, a few more seconds he didn't see anything and he went back to his position of relaxation. Again he heard more rustling and thought he saw a figure or two moving on the edge of the forest.

Not taking a chance he was about to call on his sergeant when an arrow came flying through the storm and impacted the crate used as a temporary wall. Bringing up his shield quickly he felt more arrows pang off his shield and all around him. Looking at the other outposts he could see the same treatment for them too, some were going down but thanks to forewarning now most were getting behind cover of some kind.

A couple more barrages and suddenly it all stopped. Carefully peeking across the barrier he stepped out slowly and was about to go contact somebody when a couple dozen shadows were launched into the air at each of the supply outposts. From those shadows a bunch of shuriken were thrown at targets in the outposts. The others hadn't noticed as soon as him because they went down under the barrage. Thanks to his shield he was able to avoid any going into anything vital but one went into his left thigh.

As he was about to pull it out until he heard a cry from across the field.

His blood went cold as a line of Ogres and Humans were slowly made visible through the rain. The three outposts along the road tried to orient themselves only for the humans flying through the air to land in the camps, some doing a spell of some sort causing explosive force upon landing. Others landed on other brotherhood members skidding across the ground. The camps were then starting to fight back when the battle line crashed into the camps.

Humans climbed over the barricades and Ogres crashed through them attempting to get through the defenders behind them. Harpies flew low and fast picking up defenders and flying even further before dropping them. The defenders attempted to fight back the combination force only to be disoriented and destroyed in a matter of minutes.

As Ogres and Harpies began running around collecting loot and prisoners the Humans began orienting themselves in preparation for the next phase of the plan.

XXXX

On the right flank of the allied forces the main battle between the undead under Morbant Fel and the Defias Brotherhood raged on as the undead still managed to find more bodies to throw at the Defias line. The Defias moved towards the center of the Graveyard where the cabin on top of the hill was home to Morbant Fel. Each step into the Graveyard,however, always cost more casualties for the Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood were in the middle of the biggest push by the undead so far, not far off was the cabin and if they pushed through this offensive than they could assault the center of the undead occupation. It was a scene of absolute slaughter, various species of the brotherhood were having trouble forcing back the undead. A human squad of defias unleashed bolt after bolt of crossbow ammo into the undead force only for a couple undead skeleton hands to grab each foot of the squad and drag the bodies attached to them out of the ground. Panic followed as each member of the squad futiley attempted to get rid of the undead now attached to them. Those attempts didn't last long as the undead ripped them apart. Further down the line towards the main road warriors were wading their way through undead while mages and ranged fighters continued to bombard the undead with all matter of spells and ammunition.

As the Defias kept pushing back a massive roar came from the graveyard and the biggest push by the undead had gone up in intensity. Corpses of humans and defias brothers were thrown into the assault. As the wave of undead crashed into the line of Defias ground soldiers a whistle sounded through the air. Ignored by the combatants they kept fighting until a wave of projectiles suddenly hit the mass of fighters. Undead and living went down alike as the projectles pierced flesh and bone, some of the arrows even exploding upon impact with either magic or explosives causing further casualties.

A second wave of projectiles came in with a devastating but slightly lesser effect due to the fighters becoming aware of it now. After the second wave however a line of figures appeared charging out of the treeline and directly towards the right flank. With this sudden development and projectiles still flying Defias commanders were dumbstruck as the allied battleline crashed into the flank with a crash of thunder going off overhead. They weren't just consolidating their forces to fighting the brotherhood either, as far as one could see the battle line managed to reach to well across the whole of the Undead line too.

With Ogres bashing in Defias skull, humans decapitating undead and Harpies picking off random ones at will the battle was beginning to turn. The charge had devastating results as the brotherhood were not doing well at regrouping, meanwhile the undead were attacking everything that moved.

Behind the lines however Naruto moved quickly to fulfill another part of the plan. Launching himself, with the help of his clones, up and over the battle line Naruto managed to land right in front of the undead headquarters. Looking around at the undead guarding the surprisingly nice cottage Naruto went over the plan in his head again.

Flashback

"Now there is something else to consider in this attack too, the leader of the undead is a man by the name of Morbent Fel." Naruto listened closely as Althea described the situation

"Morbant Fel has leadership over all the undead of Raven Hill, maybe even all of duskwood, therefore we need to eliminate him as a factor during the attack. With him gone the undead will be leaderless and some may even be released."

"I'll take care of him." Naruto spoke with his usual enthusiasm.

Althea eyed him carefully before responding.

"Be very careful when going up against him, he has managed to last this long and he has only gotten stronger over time."

End Flashback

Naruto began the grisly work of removing the outer guards from the equation, which didn't last but a minute. Walking into the cabin Naruto was surprised by the lack of guards inside the house. Sensing something upstairs Naruto slowly made his way up keeping his senses open. As he approached the top of the stairs he heard a snivley voice speak up.

"Yeess they are finally here." Naruto rushed into the room only to stop as he saw a figure step of some sort of summoning portal. Moving quickly Naruto moved to take out who he presumed to be Morbent Fel, only to be suddenly stunned by a sudden high pitched shriek of the figure summoned. Naruto had to stop and hold his head as the scream seemed to pierce his skull and batter his brain. This left an opening easily exploited however as a plate gauntleted hand backhanded Naruto out of the room and through the window.

XXXX

The battle for Raven Hill was slowly but surely progressing towards it's end. As the allies continued to press through the flanks of both armies a second attack came from the main road that the forts were on. Again not expecting this the defias lines were thrown into further disarray and chaos as they were assaulted on two fronts.

Gurunk, in the middle of the chaos, was given a wide berth as he wildly swung his flail, crushing anything that dared get in his way. The only thing going through his and all the other ogre's minds was something boss had told them before the battle.

"Kill the ones with the red bandanas." and boy were there many of them. Oddly enough before the battle all members of the Night Watch made sure they weren't wearing red.

Letting loose with a horizontal swing, he was rewarded with the sight of two humans being sent flying.

Podarge and her sisters did not stand idle either, while in a prolonged melee contest harpies were at a disadvantage they did make up for it by being fast agile flyers. Using their hunting tactics multiple sisters would swoop in low and fast before grabbing an enemy with their claws and flying away fast. If their claws didn't kill them than the drop from the sheer heights that they went too did.

Podarge let loose lightning into both hordes and watched as they were shocked while her sisters continued to prowl the battlefield.

The humans, also holding their own, were cutting through the center of the battleline. Defias,undead, it did not matter both were foes that threatened their livelihood and needed to be rid of. The battle continued on with both the undead and defias lines collapsing when all of a sudden a shriek caused the whole battlefield to stop in unison.

Podarge and Gurunk were slightly intimidated but Althea had a look of horror on her face.

"It couldn't be..."

XXXX

Landing hard Naruto slowly got up to see the summoned figure land on his feet. Naruto inspected the figure. Clad in a black robe with the hood covering every facial feature and only the armored hands and feet visible, Naruto was intimidated. A slash and then a cry was heard from above and Naruto noticed another of the wraith like figures descending with a sword drawn. Even without trying he could sense great magic coming from the sword. Seemingly not to be outdone the other wraithlike figure unsheathed a similar sword and both began advancing on Naruto.

Scrambling up Naruto took a kunai in each hand, which at this point seemed woefully inadequate. Both advanced on him until one was suddenly hit by a glowing hammer stunning it and forcing it back. A battlecry soon followed and a human wielding a a shield ran up to the wraith, not losing momentum the paladin charged and bashed the wraith with his shield.

"You take care of the other one kid!" Naruto watched as suddenly many humanoid figures followed the human, including dwarves a gnome a night elf and even a draenai.

Naruto was left to stare down the other cloaked figure alone, this one hadn't seemed to notice the others trouble with the group of heroes. The black rider let out shrill and charged at Naruto. Better prepared to brace himself Naruto was not caught offguard but still flinched visibly none the less. Naruto was able to dodge a slash that would have relieved him of his head all the while getting within the enemy's guard and getting a slash in on the right side of the riders body.

However this rider proved to be quick on his feet as he stepped out of the way and attempted an overhead slash. Jumping to the left Naruto managed to evade the attack. Speaking quickly Naruto then turned around and stuck out his right hand. Lashes of light blue energy streamed from Naruto's fingers and made their way towards the rider, the energy behaved exactly like that, like energy. Going at random angles ultimately towards the rider, the earth was trenched where his attack had hit and carved along the ground.

The rider made no attempt to dodge as the energy collided with him, waving his hand to the right the riders body was sent flying through the trunk of a thick tree making smoke and debris cloud the vision of his opponent. Naruto had the kunai in his left hand and waited with baited breath for his opponent to reemerge. He was not disappointed as the rider charged through the debris doing his mind shattering shriek. Naruto grimaced and tried again, this time however his opponent did do something.

Sticking out his sword, Black energy tendrils emerged and intercepted their equivilant. The collision of energies was a battle of wills as Naruto pushed more power into his technique hoping to overpower his enemy. The energy collided with eachother at seemingly random places and when they did it always met with destructive results. New craters were created, trees were destroyed and a chunk of the house was suddenly hit, causing an explosion of debris.

As both fighters struggled the dark figure was suddenly hit in the back by something and stumble forward. Stumbling caused the rider to lose focus and cease his energy attack. As the rider was about to check what hit him from behind he was hit from the front by Naruto's energy attack. Sent flying again was more controlled this time as the rider landed on his feet and skidded to a stop.

Naruto watched as the spell that his clone had hit the figure in the back went to work expanding chains of energy across the cloaked figure's body in an attempt to restrain him. However as he was about to engage again his enemy thrust his sword through the center of the spell work and it collapsed. After ridding itself of his restraint the rider rushed forward and lashed out again in an attempt to bisect him. Trying to parry the blow Naruto brought up his kunai quickly in an attempt to push the force of the blow upwards over his head. The wraith's blade, however, cut clean through his kunai and bit into his chest, leaving a gash. Naruto stumbled back as the pain suddenly hit him. He remembered the time he stabbed himself to rid his body of poison, how much that had hurt. This pain was beyond that to a whole other level. Gritting his teeth Naruto spun around and got into a position preparing another spell.

Before he could do it however Naruto heard someone calling him.

"Hey kid!" Looking over Naruto barely had enough time to register the weapon flying through the air towards him. Reacting quickly he managed to snag it out of mid-air. Recognition dawned as he realized he was tossed a sword to fight with, it appeared to be a plain longsword but Naruto's senses told him otherwise.

About to thank whoever threw him the weapon he was nearly blindsided by the wraith. Shrieking again, which thankfully announced his charge, the rider attempted the same slash again, only for Naruto to bring up the sword and parry the blow.

'Huh, never fought with a sword before.' Naruto glanced from the sword to the rider.

'Well now's as good a time as ever.' Flourishing a bit Naruto charged in and the battle recommenced, the pain of his injury focusing his abilities quite well.

Sparks flew as both Naruto and his opponent slashed, stabbed, parried, and otherwise fought it out. While the rider had plenty of battlefield experience when it came to using a sword, Naruto was proving himself adept at learning on the fly and what to do and not to do when using a sword. Both continued this dance until both blades suddenly collided with both their respective wielders attemping to push the other back.

Naruto's physical strength had gone up leaps and bounds but against an opponent like this it seemed as if it's strength were increased by magical means. Neither side was willing to give an inch as they stared into eachother's eyes, or lack thereof as Naruto discovered. Looking into the hood Naruto could not see anything, no flesh, no face, his senses however told him something was there.

Wanting to get control back Naruto enhanced his muscles with chakra instantly allowing him to push the riders blade back in a show of force, using that momentum Naruto did a turn and with his other hand made a rasengan, he was not sure if it would work but he would have to try, putting all his willpower, all his force, and all his concentration into this attack Naruto spun the rest of the way and brought the Rasengan slamming into the figure. Colliding with what he assumed to be flesh Naruto felt surprised when he impacted the body.

Dark energy sprouted where he made contact as if trying to force the Rasengan away, Naruto held firm under the barrage of energy pushing harder and harder. The harder he pushed it seemed the more resistance he encountered until he got it to sink all the way into the so called body. An ensuing explosion tore through the area as trees were uprooted and earth was flying.

Naruto had his hand held out as if he still had the Rasengan in the dark figure's gut. Breathing heavily Naruto saw that the Dark Rider was gone, with a trench behind where he stood from the explosion.

Realizing that the fight was over the pain chose that particular moment to rear it's ugly head. Naruto fell to his knees as the pain in his chest bloomed. That wasn't all that was injured either, he looked down at his arm and saw that his hand seemed to be burned, however it hurt alot more than a normal burn did. As he slowly used the sword to get up a memory suddenly passed his awareness causing him to nearly stumble. Reviewing it Naruto cursed out loud.

"Shit! I gotta get back fast." Naruto had two clones grab under each of his arms and take him back to the main army camp, sword in hand. On his way back he saw the battle going on from the distance and also from the memories of his clones. One particular memory disturbed him, it appeared that the brotherhood had indeed called for and got reinforcements which were now battering Raven Hill, which their forces had taken. With the rest of their forces still occupied finishing off the right flank of the brotherhood and the undead Naruto quickly made as many clones as he could for backup, which amounted to a hundred at that moment. With that they all headed out. Though he did send some of them back to the cabin to find Morbent Fel.

Arriving back at the main army camp Naruto saw the officer in charge and headed over to him.

Quickly explaining his situation Naruto didn't leave any room for response and left the sword with him, quickly making their way through Duskwood and back through Deadwind pass, Naruto quickly made a portal and had all of them run through. When he got through he was surprised to see Medivh not there, but instead of looking for him Naruto opened the passage, and made his way back to the village. Managing to draw attention away from himself the whole time through the village Naruto realized that his jacket was a wreck. Making a quick detour to his apartment Naruto ran inside and unloaded his pockets before throwing his clothes down on his bed. Changing quickly Naruto winced as the chest wound slowly closed, the odd thing though was that nasty looking puss oozed out every so often. The wounds on his hand didn't hurt as bad but they were annoying none the less. Now that his chest was covered in bandages and his hand was almost fully healed Naruto tried walking by himself, with effort Naruto was able to push through the pain and slowly make his way out.

Getting constant reports, via clones, of where he currently was Naruto made his way to the main street and found him and Sakura going to the tower. Carefully running along the rooftops Naruto scouted out and managed to distract all people at once, subtley slipping himself into his clones place. The reason Naruto had come back at that moments notice was it had concerned Sasuke and his fate.

Both were admitted into the Hokage's office no problem and soon they stood there as Tsunade stared back at them. She had her hands interlocked in front of her face in deep thought, Naruto was about to ask what was up but Tsunade spoke first.

"Sasuke has spent time in prison, but apparently he recieved an uninvited visitor the other day." Sakura and Naruto both raised their eyebrows though Naruto did it more to appear innocent.

"He has been relieved of the curse placed upon him by Orochimaru, and now the council is trying to decide what to do."

"What does that have to do with us?" Tsunade glanced at Naruto

"The council has decided to call you two as witnesses in hopes of getting more information of how Sasuke acted before and during the Curse Seal. With your help you'll make our decision making alot more closer to the truth." Glad that they were finally getting somewhere Naruto was grinning from ear to ear.

"If you too will follow me we will go ahead to the meeting chamber." Getting up from her desk she walked through the door and down the hall with both Naruto and Sakura in tow.

Naruto was holding in the pain from both his hand and his chest rather well but every other step his eye or lip would twitch. Naruto didn't notice that Tsunade's eyes narrowed at him. Going through a double door that was down the hall before the stairs Naruto saw that most heads of the various clans of Konoha were there, that and a very few civilian members were present. All present turned and looked at them as they entered Tsunade told them to stand at the center of the room and she went to the head of the semi circular table.

"This meeting to decide the fate of Sasuke Uchiha is now in session, today we have brought in his teamates from team 7 to give personal testimonies on various situations that he was in, Sakura the first question goes to you, how did Sasuke Uchiha get marked with the curse seal." Sakura stepped forward

"Well Hokage-sama we were in the forest of death competing in the second phase of the Chunin exams when we were attacked by a grass ninja, later revealed to be Orochimaru. Naruto and Sasuke fought him only for Orochimaru to do some seal on Naruto, than when he finally finished with Sasuke he extended his neck and bit Sasuke on the shoulder." Most members nodded going through the information that was already known to them.

"Ok Sakura when was the first time Sasuke used the energy of the curse seal?"

"After Orochimaru left I took both Naruto and Sasuke somewhere they could recover, however I was then attacked by sound ninjas that had been sent to kill Sasuke, but before they could finish the job Sasuke finally awoke with the curse seals energy, using it he managed to beat the sound ninjas and cause them to retreat."

"Was his behavior different after the curse seal activated?"

"It was like he was a completely different person honestly, he had enough recognition to recognize me and even asked who hurt me, however I think that was just an excuse to be able to test his power."

"So you're saying that his behavior was possibly influenced by the curse seal?"

"If I were to guess, I would say yes Hokage-same." Tsunade nodded.

"After Kakashi had the curse sealed did he return to normal?"

"Somewhat, I could tell that he was fighting against the seal though, he would be in pain and sometimes rub the area." Tsunade and a couple other heads nodded in acknowledgement.

"Ok Naruto you're turn, could you describe when you finally found Sasuke during the retrieval mission?" Naruto stepped forward then.

"Sure." Going back into his memory Naruto told them how Sasuke was sealed into some kind of container but then broke out of it before heading to the border, and once there Naruto told them how the curse seal had gotten even worse, along with what Sasuke said to him directly.

"So due to the sound four's tampering the curse spread even more, and with it's ability to influence his personality, do you think it could have influenced his thinking?" Naruto thought about it for a moment before responding

"I guess it could have been that way..."

"I have a feeling you're not totally convinced though..."

"Well I remember him saying that one of his only goals in life was to kill his brother, it is possible that he was influenced but I wouldn't put it past him to have gone semi-willingly." Tsunade raised an eyebrow while the rest of the council remained quiet. Danzo continued to eye Naruto, though for what reason he wasn't sure.

"So from both of these testimonies and the reports on your desk from various other incidents and witnesses we will now render a punishment. Naruto and Sakura, step outside please." Slightly pissed they were being left out Naruto and Sakura walked back out the door and closed it. Outside the door Sakura found her voice.

"Do you think they will kill Sasuke?" Naruto shook his head

"From the sound of it, no...but I don't think he's getting out unscathed either." Sakura nodded sounding somewhat reassured

"Just think Sakura, he's back. It may not be the same it may not be perfect. But he's back where he belongs." Sakura nodded and smiled

"Thanks Naruto." Naruto grinned in return.

They expected to be waiting there for a while only to be there a couple minutes when the doors suddenly opened and Tsunade walked out.

XXXX


	10. An

Thank you to all of you that have reviewed, now to anwser all of your questions.

The jumping between Azeroth and the Elemental Nations will be on a more permanent basis, not fully, but more in-line with years then hours, days and/or weeks.

As for shape shifting capabilitys, well thats up in the air since i have yet to get that far in the planing of this total revamp.

But don't worry, i will most certainly give it a thought.

Now to explain a few things for you guys.

Medivh appeared in Warcraft 3. Despite him dying in Warcraft 2, how can that be.

What i have come to think is that his excistance then in WC3 is similar to that if a Servant, for those of you that have read/seen the Fate series will inderstand how i look at it.

But i also think that we can reverse that theory as well as, Medivh is not a Prophet or an Oracle, like Jaina and Thrall seems to think, he is a Guardian, and thins most certainly does not give him powers like that of the Bronze Dragon Flight.

Therefore i think that he can appear just about anywhere in time.

Otherwise he would not have known what would occur, if Jaina and Thrall did not do what he said, and he would most certainly not have known about the need of giving his key to a mere adventurer in WoW.

This last one stems from the Karazan atunment quest-line in WoW.

Now as for a quick view of what i intend to do.

First of all. Medivh will pick-up Naruto alot earlier.

Second. Naruto will appear on Azeroth before the great sundering, instead of between Origins and TBC like Zane wrote his.

This decision stems ones again from my belief that Medivh can now travel through time in a similar way to Kalaidoscope AKA Zelretch.

Third. He will be adopted by Illidan.

Now if you think that i am basig the beginning on Demon Hunter N by 1sniperwolf you are correct, but i will not make Naruto a DH, no i am after the connetions, spells, rep and a few other things, nothing much but a way to explain why my Naruto will be more calm and mature, and since it fit so well with what i intend to do with this, well... don't have much choice now do i.

Also for those of you who think that i will not give credit to 1sniperwolf and Zane23, well you are out of your mind.

Zane23 gets credit for being the creator of the original story.

and 1sniperwolf gets credit for the insperation, afterall, you can't put an ownership stamp on an idea.

Same goes for names unfortunatly, if you don't Believe me, then read the agreement pact all authors agree to, it more or less says, that you own what you have written as long as it's not a copy/paste from someone else's work, but that applys only if it's more or less literly word for word, so what we authors actually own is our work, and nothing else, sadly.

Also like i said Before, there will be quite some time before the first chapter of the rewrite is up.

As i need to finish The True Darkness first.

So till next time, review and praise the log.


End file.
